Free Republic

"Have you thought about putting a Bush/Cheney sticker on it?"

But then I'd get it from both sides...

But I do have a license plate frame that says... Farms? In Berkeley? Mooooooooooooo....

RIP Mel Blanc

From an interview just two days ago...

"Eventually, everything will be a hybrid," said Jim Press, president of Toyota Motor North America, in an interview Tuesday in New York. Hybrids have been driving Toyota's growth in the U.S., he said.

I bought into the hype and bought a Prius a little over three months ago. I'm still learning to drive the thing. I've never averaged below 50mpg in mixed city/freeway driving. My current tank is...

The worst part about owning one is convincing knuckleheads I'm not an environmentalist/liberal/wacko type.

Thanks for this.

The count is five pieces at the Udo Household.

All five show signs of having been lovingly chewed by my two kids.

These toys were not sold at Wal-Mart and Target either, but "boutique" toy stores and the like.

pissant--Thanks for the link, had to order to stop the crying here!

I'm not a geek, but following this is funny, funny funny... Mash here

Note to Mod...the "Number" appears nowhere on the linked page, relax and laugh...

It's not just football and it's not just Fox.

My 4 y.o. son loves NASCAR and I learned very early on in the process that you DVR the race and skip through all the network promos for shows that contain subject matter a 4 y.o. should not be exposed to. With NASCAR, that's quite a chore as on average there are commercial breaks all...the...time.

Plus, considering my personal dislike for NASCAR, it makes for a very long afternoon.

"It makes my blood boil.

The title is most apropos.

I like and Sacramento and used to walk as my primary form of exercise. I enjoyed strolling down a quiet street with my two diaper aged children in their yuppie stroller, but no longer. I haven't for nearly a year. The feral dog packs, the inconsiderate drivers and the trash on the streets: human and otherwise have put a stop to it. I tried carrying a gun, but it ain't for me.

My Sacramento-dwelling father-in-law has had his liberal do-gooder mentality shaken to the core. Not by this spike in random violence, but more by the fact that the po-leece and citizenry take it as a given. It's just another mugging.

But FIL, not being as timid (or child equipped) as I, has taken to carrying a titanium bodied Taurus .38 at all times, which he indicated that he will pass down to me.

It's over, gentlemen, and it hasn't even really started yet.

"NEITHER were MY ancestors fighting FOR "slavery". families like MINE were fighting FOR FREEDOM from a faraway central government that despised, controlled & otherwise ignored us "poor folks".

MY family ( and tens of thousands of other poor & "other than white" dixie families) just wanted OUT of the union. they simply wanted nothing more & nothing less than LIBERTY!"

Please don't misunderstand me, sir.

I really have no dog in this fight. In fact the only dog I know of I might possess was a direct relative on my Mom's side who fought with a certain Nathan Bedford Forrest in the 3rd Tennessee.

I have no idea what his motives were. Nor do I find Forrest's actions after Fort Pillow any less reprehensible, if indeed they are true.

"i'm sure that you are quite correct about criticism of billy sherman, the DESTROYER & WAR CRIMINAL."

Destroyer? Yes.

War Criminal?

Taken from a "Memorandum, or Basis of Agreement," dated Aptil 18th 1865, between Joe Johnson and W.T. Sherman:

...(5) The people and inhabitants of all the states to be guaranteed, so far as the executive can, their political rights and franchises as well as their rights of person and property, as defined by the Constitution of the United States and of the States respectively. (Emphasis mine)

6. The Executive authority of the Government of the United States not to disturb any of the people by reason of the late war, so long as they live in peace and quiet, abstain from acts of armed hostility, and obey the laws in existance at the place of their residence. (Emphasis mine)

7. In general terms--the war to cease; a general amnnesty... (Emphasis mine)

Now, of course you recall what happened to ol' Uncle Billy when the folks upstairs received this "draconian" edict, right?

"How poor my life would be if I had never gotten to know the quality of their character!"

Amen.

That is why I find the "tortured soul" of W.T. Sherman so fascinating.

He recognized the horror of war, and it fought against his very nature.

The mental vision of an ailing, respectful Joe Jackson standing hatless in the rain at Sherman's funeral, should give us all pause.

"Actually, just the opposite. It was the Soviet Army that did what Sherman did, only in reverse --- they destroyed their own property in retreat so it would not fall into the hands of the Germans (scorched earth -- the Czar's army did the same in 1814 when Napoleon invaded.)

Contrary to neo-Confederate mythology, Sherman's march through Georgia was relatively bloodless affair with only a few minor engagements with Confederate forces. (The mass rape and murder stuff is all BS). Sherman did play hell with the infrastructure and resources, destroying railroads, forges, food stocks etc that could be of use to the Confederates --- scorched earth. While the Germans targeted large cities of Leningrad, Moscow, Kiev and Stalingrad, Sherman avoided the larger cities of Macon and Augusta on his march and could have easily leveled Savannah if he chose to, but he didn't.

You are correct.

Sherman was also tasked with having to settle the nerves of both Grant and Lincoln, who thought his March to the Sea idea dangerous.

The very nature of his rapid movements precluded the "rape and pillage" stories. But, then, I've never had my homeland invaded, either.

At least until recently.

Therefore, a wise general will strive to feed off the enemy.
One bushel of the enemy's provisions is worth twenty of our own, one picul of fodder is worth twenty of our own.
Killing the enemy is a matter of arousing anger in men; taking the enemy's wealth is a matter of reward.
Therefore, in chariot battles, reward the first to capture at least ten chariots.
Replace the enemy's flags and standards with our own.
Mix the captured chariots with our own, treat the captured soldiers well.
This is called defeating the enemy and increasing our strength.
Therefore, the important thing in doing battle is victory, not protracted warfare.
Therefore, a general who understands warfare is the guardian of people's lives, and the ruler of the nation's security.

--Sun Tsu--

It should be noted that Sherman was taken to task at the end of the conflict for being to lenient towards the defeated Rebs.

"Then give me the old anyday."

I agree, sir.

Unfortunately, methinks our current enemies do not.

"It is also worth noting that generals with names like von Kleist, von Manstein, von Leeb, von Paulus, and von Runstedt waged war Sherman's way in Russia, and the result was the most bitter war in human history, exceeding even the wars against the Mongols in its savagery. Russian veterans forbade German eleemosynary organizations the privilege even of collecting for burial the 50-year-old remains of German dead at Stalingrad, who were left lying where they fell by the Russians."

Yes, I suppose it could be argued that the example you've given was the last conflict (Does the Cold War count?) that resulted in a decisive victory. The first Iraq war is as you note (I think) a stunning example of not finishing the job.

I don't think enough credit is given Sherman for his avoidance of conflict. He purposely avoided contact with the enemy, even when the numbers were on his side.

I live in a shanty in the shantytown.
We have no money so we had to sleep on the ground.
I played the music. My father he dig a ditch.
My mother she do laundry life sure was a bitch.

But 'till we killed the white people.
Ooh we gun make them hurt.
Kill the white people yea.
But buy my record first.
Ooh yea.
Why don’t you buy my record?

We sing of freedom and ooh equality.
But we really don’t care we just want money money money.
We want to drive in a big black limosine.
Get so high off ganja we cant even see.
and then we kill the white people.
Ooh we gunna make them hurt.

Kill the white people.
Yea.
Ooh but buy my record first ooh.

When u go in the record store.
We gunna wait outside.
We gunna hit them in the head with a bat and make them cry.
but 'till we kill the white people.

Yea but buy my record first.

"Those losses were the beginning of the end..."

Yes, but the fall of Atlanta completely changed the political landscape of the North and cannot be underestimated as a major event from either a strategic or grand strategic viewpoint.

And as we have seen, there is more than one way to win or lose a conflict.

"The war was lost before that."

Perhaps.

But had Lincoln lost the Presidency, as seemed likely before the fall of Atlanta, the conduct of the war and the post war period would have been radically different.

And "raping and piligaing" of your enemies home soil had better be the goal of any modern Army.

Lee and Sherman were indeed different men. One old, one new.

"Military people worldwide still study the brilliant tactics of Lee & Jackson.

They study Sherman somewhat less so."

They may study the tactics of Lee and Jackson.

But the strategy of Sherman was inspired brillance, even if he didn't think so. The fall of Atlanta was IMO the real turning point of the conflict.

I agree with B.H. Liddell Hart that Sherman was the first "Modern General." He's easily my favorite figure of the War.

See also "The Soul of Battle" by Vicor Davis Hanson for an interesting latter day take on the March to the Sea.

Maybe they want to end up being listed here

"The difference in quality is not as great as the perception."

Amen, brother.

When Mrs. Udo decided to have a mini-van, she drove 'em all and decided on the Honda Odyssey. I was informed that it was rated the "best" according to Consumer Distorts, edmonks.com, etc.

I said "OK" and took two perfectly fine, good running, Union-built Saturns and a large amount of cash to my Honda dealer and exchanged this for a 2006 Odyssey.

This vehicle, new, was easily the worst handling vehicle I have ever driven. The steering wheel shook violently at highway speeds, it was a cacophony of squeeks, rattles and hums worthy of a DC-3. The power sliding doors seemed to have a life of their own. The paint was stained extensively under the clear coat and the thing pulled heavily to the right under normal braking.

After four days of hell, I returned this "thing" to the dealer where I was given another new Odyssey.

At this point, I decided to do some reading about this vehicle. Well, it seems that the Honda Odyssey, the ne plus ultra of mini-vans has problems not even imagined by we ignorant "American Car" supporters. It eats trannys, has the AC condenser mounted so low on the front that one errant pebble will cost you about a grand. (Honda's response? Just file a claim with your car insurance.) The front-end vibration is well documented and Honda considers it "normal." Add to this the thing will net you about 12 mpg in city driving (rated 20 city and 28 hwy) and you get a winner.

Yet they sell boatloads.

I ran into a Odyssey driver (which isn't hard) in the parking lot of our local Grocery this past weekend. I axed her how see liked her 2006. She just "loved" it. She bought it to replace a 2002 Odyssey. It had two trannys and the A/C went out twice, the Power Doors failed to function repeatedly on the 2002, but she went an bought a 2006, which in the first two months of its life has already cost her $1200 in A/C repairs.

Go figure.

Me? I get to spend this weekend removing the grill of my new car, and wire-tying wire mesh behind the front opening.

I'm going to buy the extended warranty and schedule regular trips to my work-shuttle-less Honda Dealer to just sit there.

"Hmmm, any suggestions on the 2000 crash--which is not, in this textbook, a crash."

Can't help you there. I'd start here on FR, actually.

But I'll tell you a story.

I was workng at an on-line broker just before the correction, crash, whatever, of 2000. I opened a new account for a fellow who sent in two money orders for $1000 each (min. $2K to open).

So, I called the guy and axed him, "Wassup with this?"

He told me he didn't have a checking account or credit cards, but everyone he knew said the market was the place to make money.

Then there's the lady who mortgaged her house to by a swell stock called EConnect 'cause she (and her neighbors) KNEW it would go through the roof...

and on and on...