Mazurland Blog

Street People

To end the month on an upnote, here are videos of two different kinds of street performance art. The first is one of those feel-good We-Are-the-World things that I usually don't enjoy. It doesn't help an old curmudgeon like me that this one is all Obama-tinged Hopee-Changee. But the real street performers (and others) from around the world in this video have some real talent, and they're kept in a building, multi-track sync by modern laptop music mixing trechnology. The video is the first in a series of "Episodes" put together on a web site called "Playing for Change." Take a trip around the world and enjoy.

Another trip around the world was done by one guy, Matt Harding, a bored computer programmer. A few years ago, he quit his job and traveled a bit with a friend. The story goes that at one site, Matt started to do his goofy "C'mon! Let's go to lunch!" dance and his friend captured it on video. They ended up doing the same thing everywhere they stopped and made a short film for their own amusement. But then Matt somehow sold the idea of expanding the joke to Cadbury Adams, a candy company that makes Stride Gum, and the company ended up bankrolling a very extensive trip around the world. In the video, Matt dances in the street (and other places) all over the world. It's goofy as heck, but enjoyable. You can hear Matt's story here. (The link is to the first of a three part video of a talk he gave on his adventure. The rest of the talk is in the "Related Videos" box at YouTube.)

Back In Action!

As has been reported here and elsewhere, I have been mostly AWOL over the past four months.  This has largely been due to three factors:  the birth of my son, me teaching a class supplemental to my regular job, and as Hank puts it, being a trout-waxing slack-ass.  Well, no more!  Today, I taught my last session of class for the semester, eliminating that as a responsibility and time-consumer.  My son has actually been sleeping through the night for about 2 months now, which is an incredible blessing from the Lord, and does not consume my time entirely.  Finally, I am going to attempt to overcome both my slack-assery AND my trout-waxitude, which admittedly is only an excuse and not an actual factor. 

I've also decided that I want to take this blog into a different direction.  In the wake of news that our esteemed (and recently Spectered) friends on Congress are expanding the scope of so-called "hate crime" legislation, I am going to endeavor to do everything I can to get this blog labeled as a "hate site", by implementing a new feature:  Things I Hate.  And by "things", I mean people.  Think of it as sort of the reverse of Stuff White People Like.  And if we do get brought before the Feds for our Thought Crimes, I'm takin' you all down with me!

p.s., Hah!  ONE post for April, Hank!  Take that!

Straight From The Boss

A Catholic priest from Canisius College was a friend of our family when I was growing up.  And I asked him once, "Father, do the Jesuits run the Catholic Church?"  And he replied: "I wouldn't say that, but I've been told when God signs his name it says "God, S.J."   Still a rib tickler for a Catholic.

But the good Father was wrong, and this story proves it----H/T to Sgt Grit.com

A Soldier, a Sailor, an Airman and a Marine got into an argument one night about which service was the best (go figure, right?). The arguing became so heated that none of the four servicemen saw the truck that was barreling down the road towards them. The driver failed to see them, and all four of them were killed instantly.

Soon, the servicemen found themselves at the Pearly Gates of Heaven. There they met with Saint Peter, and, figuring that he would be a good source of Ultimate Truth and Total Honesty, asked of Peter: "Saint Peter, which branch of the United States Armed Forces is the best?" Saint Peter replied, "I can't answer that. However I will ask God what he thinks the next time I see Him. Meanwhile, thank you for your service on Earth, and welcome to Heaven."

Some time later, the four servicemen see Saint Peter and remind him of the question they had asked him when first entering Heaven. The men asked Saint Peter if he was able to find the answer. Suddenly, a sparkling white dove lands on Peter's shoulder. In the dove's beak is a note glistening with golden dust. Saint Peter says, "Gentlemen, here is your answer from The Boss. Let's see what He has to say." Peter opens the note, and trumpets blare, golden dust drifts in the air, harps play crescendos, and Saint Peter reads the note aloud to the Servicemen:

MEMORANDUM

FROM: The Almighty One
TO: Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines

SUBJ: Which Military Service Is The Best

1. Gentlemen, all branches of the United States Armed Forces are honorable and noble. Each serves America well, and with distinction. Being a Serviceman in the United States Military represents a special calling, which warrants special respect, tribute, and dedication.

2. Be proud of that!

Semper Fidelis,
God, USMC (retired)

I should have known!

God Bless all of our Marines.

A Little Help In Translation

Joe Cocker gave one hell of a performance at Woodstock. Yet only one song from his set appears in the movie. But his rendition of Lennon and McCartney''s "With A Little Help From My Friends" is iconic, moment-defining, high-energy,.. and almost completely unintelligible. And for 40 years, fans of that performance have been looking for insight into what he actually sang on stage. Oh, there's the touchstone of the Lennon-McCartney lyrics, so well enunciated on the Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. But Joe sang so much more.

Well, a translation, years in the making, is finally available. Actually, the "translation" is almost all misheard lyrics. Mazurland has featured clever strung-together mondegreens before. These can be amusing, but this one takes the all-time cake. Like Cocker's original, it starts slow (with the actual lyrics), but builds quickly to hysterical flights of fancy. The video hasn't made it to YouTube yet, but you can watch it here. Enjoy!

[HT - Boris]

Thank You, Arlen Specter

A few election cycles ago, I'd had it with my state's senior Senator, Arlen Specter. I was fed up with his repeated betrayal of his party and his constant self-aggrandizement. I wrote him a letter saying that I would never vote for him again, and in fact, would work against him in any way I could. The intervening years have given me no reason to regret the letter (I got a form letter from his staff in reply.) He has only increased his self-aggrandizement, and helped stymie or derail many efforts by conservatives in his party. He has generally abetted the Democrats, and has been long considered one of the chief RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) in the Senate. But he has given me few opportunities to help dislodge him. The best chance came in 2004 when conservative Congressman Pat Toomey took him on in the Republican Primary. Specter narrowly defeated Toomey after the GOP closed ranks behind Specter. He was aided by Pennsylvania's other Republican Senator Rick Santorum, who has since lost his office. (See where that got you, Rick?) Specter easily defeated his Democratic rival to retain his seat.

Specter continued to be a gadfly to conservative Republicans. I can understand Specter wanting to play the moderate, particularly in a blue-color state trending from barely "Red" to "Purple" to more solidly "Blue". But this political necessity should never have been cause for him to be such a constant thorn in the side of Republican conservatives. His seat would surely have been secure if he'd have taken at least some principled stands, or been more loyal to his party. But Specter was always about Specter, first and foremost. In February, he was one of only three Republicans to vote for the massive expansion of government spending called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This vote seems to have been the straw that broke the camel's back among the few Republicans who still clung to him. Toomey announced that he would challenge Specter in the Republican primary for the 2010 election. And early surveys showed that Specter was in deep trouble.

Today Specter announced that he would be changing parties to become a Democrat. This decision was either bold, or desperate, or both. But it was not alarming to me. He was almost never a vote Republicans could count on in any contentious issue. In some ways, this clarifies any political calculations Senate Republicans make. If nothing else, Specter has always been a smart and wily politician. He will likely not be opposed in the Democratic primary and can marshal his resources to fight Toomey in the general election, where the force of conservative Republican disgust will be diluted. But Specter's decision gives me something to thank him for: the opportunity to work against him again, this time harder.

PFC Williams meets the Commandant

To follow up on the last post, here's the story MOH recipient Woody Williams told about getting his Medal of Honor.

As Sophia used to say on the Golden Girls: "Picture it---Washington DC, October 1945" 

The  MOH recipients were taken from their Hotel over to the White House, where they were ushered into the Oval Office.  President Truman greeted each service member personally, and if they had family there he asked them to come up and he greeted each family member present.  Woody's parents were there from West Va.   After the Citations were read and each man got his medal from the President, they had the rest of the day to themselves. 

Woody had a great day and dinner with his parents, and they stayed in a nice hotel in DC.  So did the other recipients, but since most of them had no family to celebrate with, they did what most Marines are wont to do---get drunk and chase women---which they did.  Several were returned to the Hotel by the DC Police, not wanting to turn a man wearing the MOH over to the Shore Patrol or MP's.

Next morning, a Marine from HQMC came and told each Marine who had received the Medal to get into dress greens and get their asses over to "8th and I', for a private chat with the Commandant.  As there were 13 Marine recipients from the day before, there were 13 chairs in the hallway in front of the Commandant's office.

The Commandant at that time was the Marine you may remember from  an earlier post, General Alexander Archer Vandergrift, who had commanded the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal early in the war.  The Marines were told to sit alphabetically, so Woody was #12 of 13.  The Marines were taken in one at a time, and left by a seperate door, so none of the others knew what had happened within.

Woody was worried they were going to take his medal away. "Hell, I just got it yesterday!"  And though his citation said he was a Corporal, he had not yet been promoted, he was still a Private First Class. And believe me, meeting the Commandant is a big deal for a Col. or General, you can imagine how a PFC feels about it. 

Woody went in, stood at attention, and correctly looked at the wall about 8 inches over the Commandant's head at his desk. Enlisted men aren't supposed to look at their superiors eyes in such situations.  This is what the General said to him.

"Williams, you're a marked man for the rest of your life. That medal carries a heavy responsiblity, and you must shoulder it like a man for as long as you live. And always remember---THAT MEDAL DOESN'T BELONG TO YOU. It belongs to every Marine on Iwo--the ones who died helping you do your job, the ones that died so you could get ashore to do it, and the ones who lived because you did your job." 

There was no mention of Heroism.  And for a good reason. All Woody did was the job he'd been trained to do, and was filling a SGT's billet as a PFC.  Ranks were getting stretched thin by that point in the war. He did his job because he was trained to do it, and was just as scared as any other Marine on that island. 

Woody told me at breakfast the next morning that every time he puts on the Medal, he thinks about the 2 riflemen in his 6 man squad who died giving him covering fire and support, and the 4 others who did what Marines do, cover each others "Six", keeping the Jap's heads down so he could do what he had to do. He knows he probably would never have lived through the first day without them, and how lucky he was that he didn't end up getting killed the rest of the time he was on Iwo.

Hershel "Woody" Williams---MOH Iwo Jima

CITATION

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to

CORPORAL HERSHEL W. WILLIAMS
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE

for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Demolition Sergeant serving with the First Battalion, Twenty-First Marines, Third Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Island, 23 February 1945. Quick to volunteer his services when our tanks were maneuvering vainly to open a lane for the infantry through the network of reinforced concrete pillboxes, buried mines and black, volcanic sands, Corporal Williams daringly went forward alone to attempt the reduction of devastating machine-gun fire from the unyielding positions. Covered only by four riflemen, he fought desperately for four hours under terrific enemy small-arms fire and repeatedly returned to his own lines to prepare demolition charges and obtain serviced flame throwers, struggling back, frequently to the rear of hostile emplacements, to wipe out one position after another. On one occasion he daringly mounted a pillbox to insert the nozzle of his flame thrower through the air vent, kill the occupants and silence the gun; on another he grimly charged enemy riflemen who attempted to stop him with bayonets and destroyed them with a burst of flame from his weapon. His unyielding determination and extraordinary heroism in the face of ruthless enemy resistance were directly instrumental in neutralizing one of the most fanatically defended Japanese strong points encountered by his regiment and aided in enabling his company to reach its' objective. Corporal Williams' aggressive fighting spirit and valiant devotion to duty throughout this fiercely contested action sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

/S/ HARRY S. TRUMAN

THEN

 

NOW----At the Marine Corps League Mid-East Division Conference, Princeton West Virginia, March 28th 2009, Still full of piss and discontent at age 86. No idea who the fat guy is next to him.

Just in case the youngsters among us have no idea what a Congress certified hero looks like.

The White Vote

As I was marveling at the phenomenon that is Facebook (I've backed off. Really.), I stumbled across this article and the site that goes with it. Stuff White People Like is a site that started as a blog (it still has that basic structure), and has taken on a life of its own. There's now a book: Stuff White People Like: The Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions. And there's loads of merchandise. According to the site:

[White people]  love nothing better than sipping free-trade gourmet coffee, leafing through the Sunday New York Times, and listening to David Sedaris on NPR (ideally all at the same time). Apple products, indie music, food co-ops, and vintage T-shirts make them weak in the knees.

They pretend to be unique, yet somehow they’re all exactly the same, talking abut how they “get” Sarah Silverman’s “subversive” comedy and Wes Anderson’s “droll” films. They are also down with diversity and up on all the best microbrews, breakfast spots, foreign cinema, and authentic sushi. They’re organic, ironic, and do not own TVs.

You know who they are: They’re white people. And they’re here, and you’re gonna have to deal. Fortunately, here’s a book that investigates, explains, and offers advice for finding social success with the Caucasian persuasion. So lose yourself in the ultimate guide (featuring brand-new entries and extras!) to the unbearable whiteness of being.

Over the course of the last year, the blog has done posts on many of the things White people supposedly like: Bob Marley, Funny and Ironic Tattoos, San Francisco, The Idea of Soccer, Indie Music, Hating Corporations and, of course, Barack Obama. The posts are faux-sociological studies, and they're pretty funny. But to me, they really aren't about being White. Oh, they hit the nail with a few things that seem to be taking over all of White America: Facebook, Divorce, But there's no mention of NASCAR, for one glaring example, nor many of the other touchstones of White America.

I think the site is really talking about a White subculture: urban, metrosexual, secular, over-educated, and reflexively Liberal. It's a larger segment of White America than it used to be. And it's the segment to which the Democratic Party has yoked itself. Forget Labor, forget the Blacks. They're bought and paid for, and largely in the bag. And there's not much growth to be had there, except, in the case of Labor, by a government-forced expansion of that near-dead and parasitic movement. (How much growth can there be in the Black vote when it already goes 90+% to the Democrats?) The group that has the most potential for growth for the Democrats is Whites. And the Democrats seem to be doing a very good job attracting them.

Obama FINALLY Does Something Right

While the Lefties nationwide call for Special Prosecutors to investigate Bush administration officials for war crimes, and the libtard Speaker of the House asks for "Truth Commissions" to investigate how we managed to keep from being attacked for 8 years,  Their beloved Messiah finally managed to reduce his severe case of Rectal Cranial Inversion Syndrome.

I had just posted a rebuttal to this call on Buffalo Pundit---part of a speech by that guy whose bust isn't allowed in the WH by the POTUS--that Churchill guy that has more days of living in the WH under his belt with FDR than The One has to date, that would suggest that the notions in the above paragraph wouldn't be a good idea.  From Churchill's speech to Parliament just after the fall of France to the Germans in 1940.

I am not reciting these facts for the purpose of recrimination. That I judge to be utterly futile and even harmful. We cannot afford it. I recite them in order to explain why it was we did not have, as we could have had, between twelve and fourteen British divisions fighting in the line in this great battle instead of only three. Now I put all this aside. I put it on the shelf, from which the historians, when they have time, will select their documents to tell their stories. WE HAVE TO THINK OF THE FUTURE, NOT OF THE PAST. This also applies in a small way to our own affairs at home. There are many who would hold an inquest in the House of Commons on the conduct of the Governments–and of Parliaments, for they are in it, too–during the years which led up to this catastrophe. They seek to indict those who were responsible for the guidance of our affairs. THIS ALSO WOULD BE A FOOLISH AND PERNICIOUS PROCESS. There are too many in it. Let each man search his conscience and search his speeches. I frequently search mine.

Of this I am quite sure, that if we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that WE HAVE LOST THE FUTURE. Therefore, I cannot accept the drawing of any distinctions between members of the present Government. It was formed at a moment of crisis in order to unite all the Parties and all sections of opinion. It has received the almost unanimous support of both Houses of Parliament. Its members are going to stand together, and, subject to the authority of the House of Commons, we are going to govern the country and fight the war. It is absolutely necessary at a time like this that every Minister who tries each day to do his duty shall be respected; and their subordinates must know that their chiefs are not threatened men, men who are here today and gone tomorrow, but that their directions must be punctually and faithfully obeyed. Without this concentrated power we cannot face what lies before us. I should not think it would be very advantageous for the House to prolong this debate this afternoon under conditions of public stress. Many facts are not clear that will be clear in a short time. We are to have a secret session on Thursday, and I should think that would be a better opportunity for the many earnest expressions of opinion which members will desire to make and for the House to discuss vital matters WITHOUT EVERYTHING BEING READ THE NEXT MORNING BY OUR DANGEROUS FOES.

I then find the following article in the WAPO

President Obama rebuffed calls for a commission to investigate alleged abuses under the Bush administration in fighting terrorism, telling congressional leaders at a White House meeting yesterday that he wants to look forward instead of litigating the past

You can read the whole thing here

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/23/AR2009042304314.html

AND YOU SHOULD.  Someone actually got it into his empty head that he's screwing the pooch every time he inhales.

Gunny Bob on Miss USA

Ah, more intolerance from the "tolerant, big tent" left.  The news cycle is ending where Miss California answered a question on homosexual marriage honestly, and from her own mind---And it cost her the crown, due to the "tolerance" of judge "Perez Hilton", a homosexual freak and celebrity blogger.

Marines have been discussing this on our closed pay website, and my good friend and retired Marine brother "Gunny Bob"--who's comments have been pasted here before, put it better than I could have.

I'll clean it up with some ***'s because Marine Speak is not suitable for a family blog.

The more I think about this shit, the more I realize what a completely
f**ked up "society" this is.....where a beautiful, heterosexual young
woman can't express her honest opinion regarding any subject, much
less a loaded, politically charged question relating to queer shit-bags,
without reprisals from a heathenistic crowd of f**king twisted bags
of shit who would lend any credence whatsoever to what this lump
of sickening shit thinks!

This country has so completely gone to shit I can't begin to fathom why
any young woman would want the title anyway. I sincerely hope this
bloated, nasty, ass-sucking queer has a f**king hemorrhage and his 
nasty, stinking, slimy guts fall out of his gaping red a**hole and he has
to spend the next forty years crawling around with all the nasty shit
hanging out!   

Other than that.....everybody have a nice day!

God Bless the Marine Corps.