Whom the gods destroy, they first make mad

July 31, 2010

Mad, as in insane, not mad as in angry.

A sign of insanity is failing to get angry at appropriate times.

Some person using the handle “globalpeace” posted this in response to another knee-jerk whine about Obama (see comment #2):

You didn’t get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.

You didn’t get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy.

You didn’t get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed.

You didn’t get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.

You didn’t get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.

You didn’t get mad when we spent over 600 billion(and counting) on said illegal war.

You didn’t get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq.

You didn’t get mad when you saw the Abu Grahib photos.

You didn’t get mad when you found out we were torturing people.

You didn’t get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.

You didn’t get mad when we didn’t catch Bin Laden.

You didn’t get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.

You didn’t get mad when we let a major US city drown.

You didn’t get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark.

You finally got mad when.. when… wait for it… when the government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all ok with you but helping other Americans… well [expletive deleted] that. That about right? You know it is.

Not getting angry at appropriate times can indeed be a sign of madness.

13 Comments | Barack Obama, History, Politics, President Obama, Whom the gods destroy they first make mad | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Live webcast, Boy Scout Centennial Celebration – NOW

July 31, 2010

By the way, you can pick up a live webcast of the Boy Scouts of America Centennial Celebration, here.

The broadcast is already an hour old; Scouts are taking their seats, show due to start in less than an hour.

On Saturday, July 31, 2010, at 8 p.m. EST, the Scouting family — past, present and future — will be able to take part, in a special nationwide broadcast. A Shining Light Across America will bring the Centennial Celebration Show from the 100th Anniversary National Scout Jamboree in Fort AP Hill, Va. to communities across the country via Webcast and satellite transmission.

Go see.

Here’s action in Times Square, earlier today:

Times Square, BSA Centennial, July 31, 2010

Times Square, BSA Centennial, July 31, 2010 - BSA caption: "It isn’t every day that visitors to New York’s Times Square can canoe down Broadway, climb a rock wall, or practice virtual archery … but it isn’t every year that we celebrate our 100th Anniversary! Here’s a look at the excitement and adventure happening in Times Square today before the “Shining Light Across America” broadcast of the jamboree’s Centennial Celebration Show this evening."

5 Comments | Boy Scouts of America, History, Technology, Television | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Chuck Yeager in Dallas

July 31, 2010

Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager, C. R. Smith Museum, Ft. Worth Texas, July 25, 2010

Can you tell at what angle his airplane was, at this moment of the story? Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager, C. R. Smith Museum, Ft. Worth Texas, July 25, 2010 - (photo by Ed Darrell - use permitted with attribution)

Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager accepted a donation of an old footlocker related to an old friend for the American Airlines C. R. Smith Museum, on Sunday, July 25, 2010, at the Museum in Fort Worth.  He spoke for nearly two hours, showing a film biography, and taking questions from the audience of nearly 300, including about 80 other pilots.

Do we need to introduce Yeager? He’s recognized as the first man to break the sound barrier in level flight, a veteran of flying in U.S. wars from World War II to Vietnam, and one of the most storied and respected test pilots ever, flying for low pay for the Air Force.  His exploits open the story of the Mercury Astronauts in Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff, and the movie that followed.

I’ve heard him speak briefly before, but this was a great treat.  I’m sure he can be caught sometime without a smile, but not on this day.  Yeager spoke about his great love, flying.   He minced no words — you won’t find an unedited video of this speech, I’ll wager.

Enthusiasm for a topic goes a long way to make a great speaker.  Yeager has enthusiasm.

In our family, we’ve always enjoyed laughing about our fighter pilot, Wes.  When he drove the delivery truck for my father’s furniture and appliance store, he’d vocalize the way he wished the engine sounded in a five-speed racer, and not the three-speed manual, six-cylinder 1955 GMC he was driving.  It was charming way back then, in the GMC.

We suspected he did the same thing when he was flying jets.  His co-pilots would never deny it.

I think all great pilots do little things they are not aware of when they really enjoy the flying, or the story about the flying.

See Gen. Yeager’s left hand in the photo above?  He’s talking about flying.  From his hand, you can tell the attitude of the airplane at that point of the story.

And in the photo below?  I think that’s the one where he’s explaining a dog fight.

See the story in his hands?

Yeager, explaining a dogfight - photo by Ed Darrell, use permitted with attribution

Chuck Yeager explains a dogfight to a DFW audience - photo by Ed Darrell, use permitted with attribution

2 Comments | Airplanes, Heroes, History, Museums, veterans | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell