Today is National Aviation Day, and so thoughts turn to our fathers who burned through tons of aviation fuel to keep America safe and make global warming possible. Somebody had to do it. And they did it with style. Here’s my pop, not long before he died, getting ready to do some dog-fighting just for fun with the SkyFighters at the Centennial Airport in Denver.
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Author Archives: GruntOfMonteCristo
Remembering the Old Men on National Aviation Day
Filed under Loose Pollen
The Brilliant, Long-Range Stealth Campaign of Ted Cruz
In the marathon of US Presidential campaigns, the most important advantages are money, name-recognition and the support of one of the major party machines. But if those were the only factors, Hillary Clinton already would be at the end of her second term. They’re not. Hillary’s husband was a stealth-horse candidate (‘dark horse’ not being mentionable, currently), and so were all his political godfathers, including JFK and Jimmy Carter.
It takes only a glance at the latest Fox News poll, at right, to see who has the ‘stealth’ strength at this early date when all the attention is focused on Donald Trump. I find it very encouraging that numbers two and three on the list are such strong candidates, ideologically, cerebrally and morally. Dr. Ben Carson and Ted Cruz, whether on the same ticket or individually, are outstanding conservative candidates.
And what of Trump? Despite his potential and deep resources and the obvious benefit his strong voice has been to the contest overall, many expect him to “flame out” over the next year or so. I’m one of those people, at the moment, at least.
And, for the moment, Ted Cruz seems to be playing the ideal, long-term stealth game. Matt K. Lewis wrote a piece about this earlier today in which he praised several of Cruz’s strategic moves. Lewis has some insider knowledge about the campaigns of Cruz and Rick Perry, but no current connection with the Cruz campaign. He comments on Cruz’s decision to enlist Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel:
But Cruz’s embrace of McDaniel also reminds me of something. In his book Hardball, Chris Matthews recalls how a one-term Georgia governor named Jimmy Carter was able to build a national network capable of winning the 1976 presidential nomination.
It started with the 1974 mid-terms. On the night of the ’74 elections, when the DNC chairman was calling the winners, Matthews writes, “the governor was calling the losers.”
We have a long way to go in this contest, but conservatives have found some hope, for the moment, in Donald Trump. Fortunately, one of the joys of having a deep bench is that our hope is not carried by just one rich guy and his Slovenian supermodel wife. That’s probably a good thing.
Goddess of Destruction, Kali on the Empire State Building; Apocalypse Clock Jumps 10 Years
But white and blue lights to honor Mother Theresa? Not so much.
The Times of India – In a breathtaking spectacle, Goddess Kali was projected on the Empire State Building in New York.
Artist Andrew Jones designed the portrait of the goddess to make the point that Mother Nature now more than ever needs a fierce avatar to fight the dangers of pollution and extinction, Firstpost.com reported.
Uh huh. I know what Maa Kali is. Patron Goddess of the Thuggee Cult. Goddess of time, destruction and death.
From Wiki:
A variety of writers and thinkers have found Kali an exciting figure for reflection and exploration, notably feminists and participants in New Age spirituality who are attracted to goddess worship. [For them], Kali is a symbol of wholeness and healing, associated especially with repressed female power and sexuality. [However, such interpretations often exhibit] confusion and misrepresentation, stemming from a lack of knowledge of Hindu history among these authors, [who only rarely] draw upon materials written by scholars of the Hindu religious tradition.
That figures. My Indian friends are Christians, and they’re not fond of Kali. Just sayin’.
Filed under Religion
Grunt’s Friday Night Sucky Movie Micro-Review: Serena
Here at the Gruntington Post, we watch the sucky movies, and warn you about them, so you don’t have to. In the case of the beautifully filmed Serena, starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, which debuted early in 2015, one might be tempted to assume that it’s worth a couple hours. One might be wrong. There’s a reason why a studio sits on a movie starring two A-list actors for over two years before releasing it, and it has nothing to do with ‘scheduling’, which is the excuse the studio gave.
Set in a depression-era logging camp near Asheville, North Carolina during the time the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was being assembled, the film was shot in the achingly beautiful forests of the Czech Republic on one of the most skillfully constructed outdoor sets I’ve seen in a long time. The surroundings are utterly convincing – more so than the acting, which is not terrible. The visuals are worth a look, really.
The acting is not bad, although the decision to have Bradley Cooper use his eastern coastal accent was a terrible one. It comes across as identical to his well-known Christopher Walken impression, which is amusing, but ridiculous. At times you think you’re watching Christopher Walken courting Jennifer Lawrence, and that’s just disturbing. Lawrence handles the part of the disturbed and damaged beauty well, but she’s most convincing when she’s silently staring or having an emotional breakdown.
The real suckiness with Serena comes from the story, which is based on the book by Ron Rash, and possibly its execution by director Susanne Bier. Character development is poor and unconvincing, and the story is just too tragic to be satisfying in any way. It gets a 95% ranking on the “Everybody Dies” scale, and overall, gets 2 out of 5 grunts. It could work as a good date movie, as long as you both fall asleep by the mid-point. I don’t recommend waiting to find out what happens. Hint: Refer to the Everybody Dies Index mentioned above. Don’t go watch this movie thinking anybody but peripheral characters are going to survive and live happily ever after. You’ve been warned.
Filed under Movies & Television
Finally Free of the Clutches of the Aging, Leftist, Media Oligarchy, Fox-Moderated GOP Debates Expose Bright Light of Reality to a Weary Nation.
Still a little queasy from the rarified air of a debate refreshingly free of loaded Marxist moderator questions, I’ve recovered enough to make the following observations about the first-tier GOP debates:
1. Donald Trump is now recognized by everyone as the pompous buffoon that he is. And this should have been obvious already for months. Favorite stumble: When he bragged that he had bought favors from half the politicians on the stage, in defense of his previous suspicious contributions to Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi. Though some of the debaters chimed in “NOT ME,” Chris Christie looked painfully silent, and sealed his identity (and Trump’s along with him) as the biggest crony insider on the stage.
2. It’s not really a secret now that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are going to be openly mocked by children on the dirt streets of remote Filipino villages for a century at least as the most historically inept and corrupt politicians in history, including Soviet-era commissars. I don’t see how this can be avoided now, even if they hire a whole army of Marie Harfs.
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Filed under Elections, News Media, Republicans
Israelis See Obama’s Speech as a Green Light for Iranian Rockets
They have a point…
The Israeli National News pointed out this morning that in his speech yesterday at the American University in Washington, “Obama told U.S. Jewish leaders it was likely rockets would fall on Tel Aviv if the nuclear deal was blocked and military action ensued.” Statements like this amount to dangerous verbal hostage-taking as Congress considers the Administration’s Iran deal. Saying outright that rockets would fly if Congress fails to do what he wants is nothing more than a threat, and Israeli writers like former New Yorker Batya Medad see that for what it is. In her words and the words of the INN editors, Obama was “justifying” Iranian hostilities before the fact, and giving them a clear “green light.” She adds: “… it’s very clear that the Obama government trusts and likes Iran and its leaders a lot more than it likes Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu.” Indeed.
Meanwhile, as John Kerry decides whether he thinks Iran is serious about annihilating Israel, Israel diplomatic channels were busy this morning informing the US Congress about satellite photos indicating that Iran is sanitizing the suspected nuclear military site at Parchin, in broad daylight, even as the accord was being signed days ago.
Hat tip: Yitzchak & Chana, from the Israeli Little Duckies Blog.
Filed under Barack Obama, Iran, Israel
Deacon Brandon Justice On Chattanooga, Sheepdogs and the Triumph of Christ
The following is from a homily preached by Deacon Brandon Justice at St. Mary’s parish near Silver Spring, Maryland a few weeks ago in the wake of the unprovoked terrorist killings of 5 US military men in Chattanooga, Tennessee. My good friend, Zmalfoy, was in attendance, and asked Deacon Brandon for a copy of his words, knowing that I’d appreciate them (and others, as well). Thank you Zophiel! And thank you Dcn. Brandon, for your permission to spread your good words. They are especially meaningful to me as I write from a hotel just a few miles from Chattanooga, tonight.
In 2008 I was, as a police officer, involved in a gunfight where the other person lost his life. This was the fourth time since 1994 that someone shot at me, but this time it was different. This was the only time since becoming a husband and a dad. It was also the only time I returned fire at someone, and I was in my third year of deacon studies by this time.
During the 8 weeks I was off waiting for the grand jury to convene and decide its ruling, I was given a book to read by a fellow officer and veteran of the 1991 Gulf War. He knew I was struggling, and a book titled On Killing by Col. David Grossman was his suggested remedy. One particular chapter was called On sheep, wolves and sheepdogs. In his book, the ‘public’ are sheep, and those who perpetrate evil are the wolves and people like me, who protect the sheep from the wolves, are the sheepdogs. Grossman explained that the masses needed those of us who could kill to occasionally do so for the greater good.
From military high school, to ROTC in college, my time in the Naval Reserves and a police career that began in West Baltimore, I pictured myself as a sheepdog – a man, as Grossman writes, with a capacity for violence. As such, I was one of those charged with protecting the sheep, who are inevitably viewed as helpless, fearful and potential victims. I took pride in being the guy who would meet evil with force. “If I have to, I will kill for you” was my pledge.
As time went on, this part of my psyche confused me. My identity as a Catholic father, son, husband and deacon were at the front of my mind, but to regulate my fear I needed to feel like a sheepdog. To be a “lamb among wolves” seemed ridiculously unrealistic to me. Even though I read about Dr. Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Archbishop Romero, I never related to exactly how they resisted injustice or faced down evil. Was King a scared sheep? Did Romero run from the wolves like a sheep? Would we consider Gandhi a helpless sheep in the midst of violence? Each of these men bravely protected his flock, not as a sheepdog, but as a shepherd. I began to see non-violence as a duty when, for so many years, I understood it to mean weakness.
John 10 expands on Mark’s gospel: the Good Shepherd. None of us are called to embrace violence, or to celebrate having the capacity to kill. We’re called to be shepherds FIRST – held accountable to how we guide, teach and protect those around us. As Catholics, we must confront evil non-violently with our faith, hope and love. Sheepdogs, like wolves, kill; except one is evil and the other is hired. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.
In 2012 I took a fellow clergyman of mine, Fr. Harry, to see Of Gods & Men – the story of the seven Trappist monks who, in 1996, not only refused to leave their sheep but also refused armed protection from the sheepdog – in this case the unjust Algerian army. In the end, the Islamist terrorists kidnapped and beheaded all of the monks. Afterwards I asked Fr. Harry what he would have done. He, too, had military training in his background before becoming a priest. Would he passively go with kidnappers or fight back? He surprised me, saying “I would like to think that as a man of faith, I would respond peacefully with love.” I began to realize that if he could shed the desire to be the sheepdog, then so could I. Instead of “I will kill for you,” my pledge became “I will die for you”.
Such is the calling for clergy, as I have chosen to become. It remains a sad reality, however, that the sheepdog pledge and the sacrifice of police officers, deputies, soldiers, sailors and marines are necessary as long as some men continue to choose evil. Non-violence may not be an option for all of us. Pray for these men and women who choose to be sheepdogs. They are targeted, not just in Asia and the Middle East, but now in St. Louis and Chattanooga.
But this is also a time of unprecedented martyrdom in our Church. More faithful shepherds are being sacrificed than ever before. Nonetheless, this evil, this hatred for Christ, will eventually collapse – just as the genocidal regimes have all done before them – not by force, but by love. We will ultimately triumph – not because we killed greater numbers, but because we sacrificed in greater numbers: not by inflicting, but by enduring. This is the victory of the Cross that is fulfilled through the calling of the shepherds.
Filed under Catholic Church
You Can’t Blame Them for Being a Little Confused
“It’s sad that governments are chiefed by the double tongues. There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see, and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men.” – Chief Ten Bears, The Outlaw Josey Wales, 1976.
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Filed under Barack Obama, Foreign Policy
Pluto’s Heart Formation Looks Strangely Like…a Cartoon Dog
And why not? Seriously, go over to Space.com at the link below, look at the high-resolution images and see if the heart formation doesn’t look a lot like the right-side profile of a cartoon dog’s face. Possibly Droopy or Snoopy or, yes, even Pluto.
Space.com – The first age of solar system exploration is in the books.
NASA’s New Horizons probe flew by Pluto this morning (July 14), capturing history’s first up-close looks at the far-flung world — if all went according to plan. (Mission team members won’t declare success until they hear from New Horizons tonight.) Closest approach came at 7:49 a.m. EDT (1149 GMT), when the spacecraft whizzed within 7,800 miles (12,500 kilometers) of Pluto’s frigid surface. To celebrate, NASA unveiled the latest photo of Pluto, showing a reddish world with a stunning heart-shaped feature on its face.
More than 1,200 scientists, NASA guests and dignitaries — including 200 reporters — watched the flyby live at New Horizons’ mission control center at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. They chanted a countdown to the closest approach, then cheered and waved American flags as the big moment occurred. Read more at Space.com.
For other more imaginative interpretations, see XKCD’s preliminary map of Pluto.
Filed under Space
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