Fiorina Is Something!

I'm still recovering from eyelid surgery.  No, not for cosmetic purposes but because the droop was affecting my vision.

Anyway, not so much I haven't been watching the news.  Have you been watching Carly Florina?  You talk about a straight shooter.  I hope she gains traction because she would give Hillary a run for her money. And a lot of her Republican competition.

I think what I like best is she doesn't sound like a politician.  She sounds like a business woman.  I relate to that much more than I relate to politician-talk. Mostly because there is substance to it. I would hope it would resonate with other women too since so many are working women. Also, she earned her success without riding on a husband's coat tails.

The street corner news conference was brilliant.  She answered every question clearly and precisely.  What would she do about this or that?  She answered explicitly. She took her lumps too but you don't hear her complaining about it or blaming some sort of conspiracy.

Okay.  I just wanted to touch base.  Things around here are getting back to some semblance of normal. In other words, I'm back.  Posts may be a bit brief while yard work gets finished up, but hopefully on a more regular schedule. 

Slinging Mud Of A Different Kind

I'm in a rush to get some basic yard chores done before eye surgery on Tuesday.  I'm so dirty I'll have to drop my cloths in the garage before going into the house. I'm taking a break to see which way a thunder storm is going to go.  I'm tired.  A good tired from physical exercise and fresh air.

I'm getting rather used to it these days after a trip to the southwest in search of rock art to photograph. As I said, it feels good.  It gives a new meaning to down and dirty.

Never-the-less the news does not escape me.  It too is dirty.  Our continued denial about ISIS and Iran saps the fresh air from the environment.  More mistruths from Hillary.  Is she really electable?  Could it be that even though people will tell the pollsters they like her they won't actually put the X in her box?  One can only hope.

The patriot act is on shakey ground.  What's in the trade agreement is being kept secret so once again Congress is voting for an unknown. The entire world is in turmoil with Russia ever flexing its muscle as well as China.  North Korea too.

Even locally things are crazy.  Our legislators are listening to a manic Muslim turned Christian who is warning of Shia law overtaking Idaho. We even had a police officer killed in the line of duty. The shooter was caught and is in jail.  Fortunately the community came out in massive support for the officer's family. Our community, with all it's faults, is very compassionate and giving. No demonstrations.  No violence nor destruction.  Only respect and mourning.  Too bad this behavior isn't universal.

It makes me glad I have my five acres to tend.  I'm learning all kinds of skills.  Mending drip lines.  Putting in garden irrigation and so forth. For a least a while I can enjoy my kind of mud and leave the politicians to wallow in their own.

Perhaps through racoon type eyes for awhile after surgery I'll see things in a different light. Nah, probably not. Mud is mud and the source is always the same.  Dirt.

Why Only One Raid?

I can't help but wonder why we haven't employed the skills of units like Delta Force more often.  If they can make a strike deep in Syria and take out a major ISIS leader and capture his wife and a servant I wonder why we couldn't have save those Americans who were beheaded.

We didn't have the intelligence.  So they say.  Who gave us the where abouts of the ISIS oil minister? And why is such intelligence so inconsistent. Could it be we don't have the necessary personnel in key places? And if not why not?

It's because we don't have a strategy, just piece meal operations.  It's no way to fight a war. But then we know that.

It just makes me wonder if we had done the things suggested by military and intelligence personnel at the outset of the escalation of unrest we could have stopped it and saved untold lives that were lost under horrible circumstances.  Like the young Jordanian pilot among many others who were burned alive or crucified or worse or beheaded. I get queasy just thinking about the suffering of those poor souls.

Now that ISIS is resurging and retaking territory lost it looks like the fighting, such as it is with the Iraqi forces in retreat, will continue and civilians will continue to bear the brunt of it.  If we had a President with an ounce of compassion he would do what is necessary to stop it as quickly as possible be it sending arms to those willing to fight or sending our troops if more force is necessary.

It will fall, however, to the next President.  The slaughter will continue and my queasiness will get worse.  I want it addressed in the campaign.  I want it laid out strategically as to how it will play out.
It's vital for not only the Middle East but for the world.

It's obvious no one else is ready for the leadership role. No one its to blame.  We happen to be the country with the most advanced military and capability. I think it's a crime against humanity we don't use it just as much as what ISIS is doing to those it captures.

Thank Heaven It's Early!

What, I've been home since Wednesday?  Where the heck is Hillary?  Her scandals are front and center but she sure isn't.  I'd like to assume too that the reason O'Malley and Webb have yet to annouce is because it's early.  If they even intend to.  What more, though, do they need to figure they just might have a reasonable chance?

As for the Republicans.  Wow.  They aren't doing anything for me either.  I know, it's all about how they can raise money and interact with their PACs.  What a way to run campaigns.  Never mind having a potential candidate just stand up and tell the truth about what he or she is for and let the rest of us make our choice.  It could be soooo easy except I don't think any of them know if the polls don't tell them.

That's a reason I have my doubts about 2016.  Instead of shoes dropping they're just being put on different feet.

The supposed shoo ins amaze me.  Hillary isn't talking and Jeb, when he does, seems to put his foot in his mouth then get cranky when he's called on it. Maybe they should just hang it up until, say, after the first of the year.  That makes for a plenty long campaign and we wouldn't have to be deciding how to interpret unending sound bites.

I guess if I'm going to continue to blog I'm going to have to look for something to yammer about other than politics for awhile.  Maybe the police/race issue but then again it's driven by politics. Deflate Gate?  It's not worth the typing time.

Oh well, maybe something worth commenting on will break over the week end.  In the meantime my yard is getting some well deserved attention.

Home Again And Nothing To Say

Ahhh, home sweet home.  The Killdeer chicks have hatched.  The grass has grown like topsy.  The house didn't burn down nor was it burglarized so all is well.

We spent our time away visiting the past.  Tromping through rocks looking for petroglyphs and ruins, visiting a couple of favorite trading posts in the middle of no where or Indian reservations, which ever way you choose to describe it.

Not once did we turn on the TV at night.  We just collapsed and slept like a log. It was a quiet pursuit except for the sounds of nature.  Restful, relaxing and thought provoking.  So many of the stories etched in rock are still awaiting translation into something we can understand.

It was a learning experience.  So many that we visited were based on either the solar year or lunar, to determine community activities.  When to plant, when to harvest determined on how the light strikes certain rocks at certain times of the year.   How they depicted it is amazing.  To have figured it out and etched it in stone for those who followed.

Other markings still remains a mystery.  Now, however, back to the present and what do I find?  Russia is still harassing other countries.  Jordon has turned to China for help since we never came through.  Only Bernie Sanders so far is challenging Hillary and people are teasing about running on the Republican side - or not. Bolton has bowed out.  Trump is to announce in June. Wow.

Tonight I will begin catching up on the news. Once you get past the train wreck I'm sure a lot is happening.  So - onward!