Bunker Mulligan "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

January 22, 2005

HEROES Act

Filed under: Military — Bunker @ 4:58 pm

Russ Vaughn, the Poet Laureate of The American Thinker, has written another post regarding survivor benefits for soldiers killed in combat.

So you say you support the troops? Then as soon as you finish reading this, start hammering that keyboard and let your two senators and your congressman know that you expect no less than their full support for early passage of the HEROES Act. To a person, they all swear they support the troops, regardless of party affiliation or individual positions on the war. Let them know, their future electoral efforts will, in your mind, be dependent upon their actions on behalf of those troops and those families who have given that “last full measure of devotion,” to their nation.

This was a personal appeal to me to help get the word out.

By the way, at the bottom of my links column there is always contact information for Congress and the White House.

January 21, 2005

I Guess This Means War

Filed under: Politics — Bunker @ 5:11 pm

The only kind Democrats will fight these days.

And who, by the way, is insisting Dubya “reach out”?

Definitions

Filed under: International — Bunker @ 5:00 pm

If you’ve not taken the time to read through the information on my “Terrorism Essentials” page (linked at the bottom of the left column), you should wander over to read what our friendly Curmudgeon explains.

Trust me.

Another Russ Vaughn Poem

Filed under: General — Bunker @ 3:41 pm

Once again, Russ Vaughn has sent me a new poem. He already has it posted at American Thinker, and you were going to go there anyway!

City Smarts

Filed under: General — Bunker @ 11:38 am

The guys at PowerLine have us beat. The Minneapolis/Saint Paul combination took the #1 and #4 spots. We in Corpus Christi were barely edged out by Fort Wayne for the bottom spot. What I’m I talking about? A report in USA Today on the recent Men’s Health article identifying the smartest and dumbest cities in the country.

Smartest

  • 1. Minneapolis
  • 2. Boston
  • 3. Denver
  • 4. St. Paul
  • 5. Seattle

Dumbest

  • 1. Fort Wayne, Ind.
  • 2. Corpus Christi, Texas
  • 3. Laredo, Texas
  • 4. Las Vegas
  • 5. Newark

Jim and the Gang had fun with it this morning, and spoke with the morning talk-show host in Fort Wayne to compare notes.

How do you determine the dumbest and smartest cities in the USA? Matt Marion of Men’s Health says criteria include:

  • Bachelor’s degrees per capita
  • Residents’ SAT scores
  • State creativity scores (patents per capita, for instance) as assessed by Catalytix and the Richard Florida Creativity Group
  • Number of universities
  • Number of Nobel Prize winners for physics and medicine born within city limits

Note: Not all criteria are weighted equally

Hmmm. I wonder what the weighting criteria were. How many cities have Nobel Laureates? Boston has both MIT and Harvard–I would guess they have a leg up on that one. Of course, they have Ted Kennedy and John Kerry to balance that just a little. Why just physics and medicine? How about Mathematics?

We have only one university, but I doubt there are many other cities of our size with more.

We have some discussion going on right now regarding schools, so the degree and SAT criteria could be significant. All in all, it is a topic for lighthearted banter more than anything else. Perhaps I’ll build my own survey and see what kind of rating I can develop. I can assure you my top five list would include only cities in Texas. Boston might hold all five of the bottom spots on their own.

Althouse Inauguration Coverage

Filed under: General — Bunker @ 9:56 am

Ann has an excellent monologue on watching the inauguration. She gives Wolf Blitzer his due (Is there a less knowledgeable reporter on TV?) and has some wonderful insights.

One of the things that disturbed me was that since Kennedy’s assasination, an American President is sheltered heavily for protection. It is probably a good idea with so many lunatics out there wanting to be noticed, but it is really a shame that someone like Bush, who apparently loves personal contact with people, cannot take the chance that the next hand he shakes holds a weapon.

I intend to read the speech over and over and try to compare it to others of the past. I think the emphasis on freedom and liberty has some elites in the world a bit concerned.

Anyone heard from Kim Jong-Il lately?

Fence Mending

Filed under: Politics — Bunker @ 7:10 am

This morning, NPR had a piece on the Inaugural. One of the comments from a European was that Europe is pleased that Bush will come visit, as he has many fences to mend. MSM constantly remind us that Bush needs to reach across the aisle and to those in the blue states.

Bush tried that when he first took office. He tried that immediately after 9/11. He has, I hope, learned his lesson.

When all the world’s diplomats and leaders are stuck in the past and simply trying to hold on, why should he stay there with them? He has taken the political risks to do what he believed to be right. None of them are willing to take any political risk–save Tony Blair. What obligation does he have to reach out? He won. Perhaps somebody in MSM should break out of the pack and demand that others reach out to him and try to assist in mending those fences we keep hearing about. Personally, I wonder if tearing those fences down shouldn’t be our number one priority.

People wonder why our military backs Bush so strongly–it is a bond that you cannot understand unless you have been there and dealt with some of the CinCs we’ve had in the past. Last night’s Inaugural activities included the Commander-in-Chief’s Ball which is hosted and attended by military personnel. Bush went to that one to wrap up his evening:

“I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, but it looks like we saved the best for last.”

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