Icewind's Ramblings

It was an interesting State of the Union speech tonight . . . Wrap things in the American Flag, throw in our great military men & women, and add some things about unity and greatness . . . we must be doing pretty damn good right now. I'll probably blog about it but let's see . . . 3 years of promises, out of control spending on borrowed dollars, massive unemployment . . . I thought it was a fairly confrontational speech going after the partisan other side.  It made a direct reference to Mitt Romney’s 15% taxes and used the charisma of his speaking abilities to ask American for a second chance.  It seemed like he was saying I have for the most part pissed away the last three years but hey look, the economy might be in a small rebound so give it another look.  I am sure the young will get all worked up in the same vein that John Kennedy’s speaking did for a nation so many years ago.  The problem is that time period is long gone and the world is so much differ...

America is all about celebrating our freedoms and differences.  I believe the American people are getting wiser.  I hope so anyway, and I'm sure that there are those that would beg to differ, and that's ok, too.  Here's the thing that you have to realize during this election process.  Any candidate for the Presidency must raise a shitload of money in order to get the job.  That's just a fact.  It has been that way for many years now and probably will not change anytime soon even with the revisions in elections laws. Another fact this is often missed by the public is that the candidate owes these people for contributing enough to get him or her elected. I would like a list of donors from each candidate before the elections are done.  I think that would actually be a better way to tell who to vote for.  It shows more of the people and special interest groups and how much they are willing to pay to have a certain side in office. Those are the...

This morning I was watching Today Show and they did a really good piece looking back at this past year.   It covered almost any topic you can think of from world events, economy, sports, celebrities, deaths, and it was beautifully done.   I came away with several thoughts about the video and also about my own year in review. The most striking thing that jumped out at me was how much chaos and trouble there is all over the world.   The many conflicts going on in so many different regions and how they never seem to be resolved and continue year after year. The natural disasters that happened this past year seem almost unprecedented with the numerous earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and droughts to affect so many countries and people.   One could almost think the ‘end of times’ was marching quickly and everyone needs to take a look at their lives and how they are living it.   It is an interesting ‘what if’ thought process when you look at what the Bible says...

Does life in Washington actually resemble an endless round of Crossfire? Or does it just seem that way from the boonies of Alaska? Life is not Crossfire . . . I can only hope a really good candidate comes to the forefront before election time. Ice

Recent political activities seem to prove this point of mine. To succeed in politics . . . it is often necessary to rise above your principles. Ice

Enjoy. What do you think . . . keep or cut the squirrels? Thank you Chuck! Ice

In Alaska we have a great group of men and women serving our country while stationed at Ft. Richardson, home of our “Arctic Warriors” and the 172 nd Stryker Brigade.   Their tour was extended over in Iraq and like many other units the number of wounded or killed has grown over the last few years. I saw yet another news story recently about insurgents using car bombs to attack security personnel in Iraq.   This includes the peace keepers and the Iraqi soldiers trying to support the new “Freedom Plan” government being established for this country.   This has become an almost daily occurrence and seems to have escalated in the last few months.   Thinking about this for a little bit, I decided that the major issue as far as I can tell isn't with the feisty-ness of the insurgents or the poor security in Iraqi cities.   The biggest problem I can see is with the cars there.   They are just too convenient and plentiful to stuff with explosives, drive into a c...

Or . . . 72 Virgins and the Suicide Bombers . . . Do the math. I was reading an article about all of the suicide bombings in the Middle East and in Pakistan and how the tactic strikes fear into those regions where it is used.   We have had some experience with its use in the U.S. with the upcoming reminder of the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on American soil. What started out as a semi-comical look into a form of world wide terrorism used to inflict trauma to those close by slowly evolved into another remembrance of a day when America was attacked and many lives were lost.   In vain . . . I hope not but there are still people out there ready to continue their battle just as we continue to defend against it.   Once again, thanks to our military and their families whose sacrifices are given from a grateful nation! In the 1970’s film M*A*S*H the theme song for the movie and the following television series was “Suicide is Painless” a catchy tune ...

It is hard to believe that it has been 20 years since the start of Desert Storm in the Gulf War to rid Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, Iraq still owes its smaller neighbor billions in reparations and more than 1,000 people are still missing. Saddam is long gone . . . many of us only remember his statute falling at one of his palaces and the excellent “war” coverage by CNN. It was in August 1990 that Iraq invaded, declaring that Kuwait was its 19th province.  The United States led a counteroffensive starting January 16, 1991. War came to television in real time with the CNN broadcast by Peter Arnett, Bernard Shaw, and John Holliman who gave us continuous coverage from Baghdad for the first 16 intense hours from their room in the Al-Rashid Hotel.  January 17, 1991 the world’s new organizations and everyone on the planet was captivated by what was happening. Wolf Blitzer and Nic Robertson (the sound man during that broadcast) look back at the start of the war and it is i...

Politics can sometimes be a very frustrating and rewarding thing and over the last couple of years I have wondered where the direction of this nation might be headed since Obama’s election. There are still many ideals I cannot see eye to eye with the current administration as I believe that both sides debate for the sake of debating and not looking out for the needs and wants of our nation.   But when one does rise to the occasion I have to admit I put away all of the misgivings and embrace the words and emotions of the occasion. We finally saw something out of the man who leads our nation, that spark that makes men and women want to protect the freedoms we have every day.   We saw that moment, 51 seconds that could very well define his Presidency. Did you catch it during the memorial service in Arizona? He was giving his speech, part sermon, more heartfelt than most of the last two years of speeches about the senseless tragedy last weekend.   He had started talking...

The tragedy of 9 years old, Christina Taylor Green being killed in Arizona while she was learning about the freedoms in this country and was on her way to meet Rep. Gabrielle Giffords since she was just becoming interested in politics having been elected to student council. Christina was born on a day of overwhelming tragedy, 9/11/2001. She died on another. As a baby, Christina's photograph appeared in a book commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.   Faces of Hope: Babies Born on 9/11 was a project undertaken by a Pennsylvania mother who sought out children from each of the 50 U.S. states to be featured in the book. "A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on." - Carl Sandburg "I think it's something hopeful," Christine Naman, the book's author, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2002.    "Maybe they were born to help us remember those who were lost, as well as to help us remember the things we should fight to hold...

It was a long night across the country and after many went to sleep on the East Coast the polls finally closed in Alaska. Many races were decided and a few are still a few days away from the final outcomes.   But one trend seems to be happening . . . Probably we are all getting screwed. Ice

I’ve said it before . . . one of the problems with elections is eventually after all the fliers, commercials, rally’s, and finger pointing . . . you have to elect someone. How did it come to a time when you are voting for the ‘lesser’ of evil in the candidates? Many a long hard fought battles have taken place in this country . . . and it is from Gettysburg that we were reminded: “. . . It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.   It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” November 19,...

Tomorrow is another election day and things are still in turmoil.   I see signs that ask “How’s that ‘Change’ going for you?” and “Yes we can!”   At times I wonder it the changes that have taken place are really changes at all. It’s well nigh impossible to assess the true character of a human heart . . . even one’s own.   We use words (Oh, so many words!) to describe our selves, our wants, desires, ideals (and imperfections) to others.   We go through life “self-characterized”, for the most part.   The face we reveal to the world is the face we primp and preen to present.   It sounds like a woman thing but it fits our thinking. Words are our cosmetics. I don’t really have a problem with that.   I believe most of us want to embody our ideals.   I believe we humans, for the most part, want to live peaceful, loving, noble lives.   We certainly tell ourselves that, often enough.   We assure others we are peaceful, honest, loving and ...

Alaska and the nation lost a great fighter for the American way of life especially in “The Last Frontier” yesterday when a floatplane he was in crashed in the mountains of western Alaska near Dillingham.                                      (origin of photo unknown) Of the nine people on board the aircraft, four people survived the crash. “Uncle Ted” as most Alaskans called him fought hard to bring Alaska from a Territory to statehood.  His legacy will be the 49 th star on the American flag as well as his tireless work to bring a better way of life for rural Alaskans, mostly natives who continue the subsistence lifestyle of many generations. As word spread last night and into this morning of his being on the downed aircraft the wave of concern and remembrances flowed from all sections of the...

Remember back before the election during all of the campaigning and coverage of the presidential primaries how MSNBC was gushing all over Barack Obama? Well it is interesting now a year later to see how things have changed.  Its not the same now as reality sinks in.  Did you watch Obama's TelePrompTer reading last night?  What a mess we are in and a joke of a speech.  I couldn’t watch all of it because my bullshit meter kept going off and pegging the “get out your chest waders” because we are in deep shit.  He didn't read anything that was unexpected. Holding BP accountable.                        Yep we’ve heard that for 58 days now. We've been on the job from day 1.      Yep typical ‘no urgency’ gov’nment job. Clean up the Gulf Coast .                ...

I guess we can chalk up another reason why things are so out of control in Washington .  Has this happened to you lately? Did you receive in the mail recently a letter telling us we were going to get our census forms in another week?  Postage for the millions of letters going out even at a reduced rate is still a ton of cash . . . gone. Then the census forms arrived.  This is more postage but necessary to find out where everyone lives and how many are in the houses for funding purposes. This afternoon, I received a post card telling me that I should have received my census form and to please fill it out and mail it back.  Another costly reminder for millions of Americans to do what is expected of us in the first place. These are the same people that the Democrats are putting in charge of health care that passed yesterday. What could possibly go wrong with that mess? I get the warm fuzzys from our folks in Washington DC . Ice

I . . . am curious to know your thoughts on this?  As you know, recent Earthquake activity has sparked death and fear throughout Chile , Haiti and Japan .  It seems that more and more earthquakes are occurring, more and more wars are beginning or starting and the rumors . . . such as Libya declaring a "jihad" of sorts against Switzerland .  What’s that all about?  Are we rushing towards the “End Times”?   What are your thoughts?  Is this simply sudden random acts of nature . . . or are the predictions of our Lord coming true? The news of yesterday’s earthquake in Chile brought to mind a bible verse I learned so long ago . . . Matthew 24:7 Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Ring of Fire Chile and Haiti . . . Two countries . . . Two earthquakes, both tragedies and apparently two vastly different outcomes. One , Chile : a relatively wealthy nation, one of th...

How are we doing? With health care and the struggling economy on the minds of most Americans right now I wanted to think back almost a year ago and see if you come up with the same answer I did about our first out of the box stimulus program.  Remember Cash for Clunkers ? Question? What was the most positive result of the "Cash for Clunkers" program? ANSWER: It took 95% of the Obama bumper stickers off the road. With many people still out of work it is now probably about the time that all of those vehicles are being repossessed and a second round of ‘deals’ can be had by those lucky people who get a second chance for those vehicles. Living the Life now, aren’t we? Ice

I have a buddy that lives in San Francisco who tells me that like many places in this country that the cost of health care is way out of reach for many people . . . including him.  He tells me that with some of his ‘issues’ he has to get creative to get the kind of quality health care that is readily available in his area. He tells me that on the Golden Gate Bridge there are yellow emergency mental health phones located every 200 feet or so.  These are possible suicidal jumpers who can make that last call for help if they want too.  He says he cannot afford mental health services, so every Thursday; he goes to the bridge to get some free therapy.  There is one catch, throughout the conversation he has to say he feels like jumping. "So lately, I just don't feel productive and a lot of my mother issues keep coming up." "Sir, this is only for emergencies." "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I feel like jumping.  Now, can we get back to that dream I had last week?...