Icewind's Ramblings

As we prepare our meals and ready for the gatherings tonight and tomorrow be remember our loved ones away from home around the world serving to protect our country and the freedoms we enjoy. Take a couple of minutes to watch this video of “American Trilogy” Many may remember Elvis performed this in Vegas so many years ago but the best I have ever seen it done is by my friends who used to play in Atlanta in the 70’s & 80’s in their band called Cullowhee.   In the middle of this rendition is the speech of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox done so beautifully by Terry Edwards. Enjoy your Thanksgiving, Give Thanks, Be Safe, and may God Bless. Cullowhee American Trilogy Happy Holidays! Ice

This from the Wall Street Journal’s report from tonight’s NBC’s magazine “Rock Center”, Jerry Sandusky says: “I shouldn’t have showered with those kids”. I am one not to rant too much but this really pisses me off to no end.   He states he is innocent but he did do some of those things.   Now I am not sure where you come from or what your daddy taught you but anytime that urge hits you to shower or touch children comes over ones self it is time for you to put a gun in your mouth as God intends for you to be culled from the herd of those of us who never entertain those thoughts.   Anytime there is no major flag or siren going off in ones head as they are about to do something so terrible to an innocent child, you have lost your moral compass and to my way of thinking the compass was never there in the first place or there is no way to redeem oneself to get pointed back on track.   Rehabilitation should not be an option as it has repeatedly shown that more often t...

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 ...

Now to report on a ‘sticky’ situation a few days ago in California . . . Over the holidays an incident happened in Bakersfield when one of the many people traveling went through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security checkpoint and was detained when two agents ‘found’ what they suspected to be a suspicious liquid. The passenger was said to be fully cooperating with TSA which leaves one to wonder just how incompetent some of these people are.  A hazardous material crew and bomb squad were called to Meadows Field Airport when sharp eyed TSA spotted several jars in a passenger's luggage. The airport was put under a security lockdown for hours while the investigation was ongoing.  The liquid substance that had everyone so worried?  Honey . . . the stuff Winnie the Pooh likes to eat.  It’s not just the human component of Homeland Security that failed, though. An expensive machine designed to detect the chemical signature of explosives c...

This evening while my father in law was outside in the front yard working on deck stairs we have just installed a very clean-cut college age person came up and started a smooth talking sales pitch. He said his name was Justin and he worked for APX Alarm Security Solutions and wanted to talk with us about our alarm system. He came into the house and gave his pitch about window break and door sensors and that his system was cellular based and would work even if a burglar ‘cut’ our phone line. It all sounded pretty good and he threw around names like “Honeywell”, ADT, Brinks, and Guardian which are other local companies who have been around Alaska for many years. He explained they had over 90% of the Anchorage residential market and could “waive” the two thousand dollar equipment fee if we placed their APX sign in our front yard (his hard part) and we could just pay the $ 49 dollar monthly monitoring fee (our easy part) for a period of three years. ...