Old Trumpet Article

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

My relationship with the phone has been long and troubled.

I grew up in a home with five kids and – yes, believe it or not kids today – not only one phone line, but only one phone. Weird, but when the phone rang, you knew exactly where it was because it was connected to the wall. And it was so heavy Alfred Hitchcock was able to use a similar model as a murder weapon in Dail M for Murder.

My sisters and I all arrived at dating age at the same time. We had a mother that was ABSOLUTELY scrupulous in her unwillingness to tell a lie. So, in other words, you didn’t dare say:

If so and so calls, I’m not home.

If so and so calls, tell him I’m dead.

If John Yenny calls, I’M HERE!

So, it was not unusual for the phone to ring and all three girls run out the front door. From the front yard we would hear my mother say “no, I’m sorry she’s not here.”

On a good day, she would tell you who the call was for. As in: “Theresa, that was for you.”

No matter how good the day, you hardly ever heard who it was that had called. If it was a guy on the other end of the phone, no message was taken, since we girls were not allowed to return the call, anyway.

So all my life, when the phone rang, I have either bolted out the front door or dived for the phone in the ridiculous hope that it was either John Yenny or Ed McMahon.

But now I have reached a point memorable than turning 30, more life-changing than turning 40 and more life ****** than the prospect of turning 50.

When the phone rings I completely ignore it.

I have gotten to the point where I have given up on Ed McMahon and anyone worthwhile leaves a message. Now that I think about it, even those of no worth leave a message. Does the DNC, RNC and the carpet cleaning company REALLY think I listen to those recordings?

The phone is never for either of my teenagers, so there is no need to answer the phone to find out who is in their lives. The teenagers have cell phones and my only involvement with the telephone aspect of their lives is paying the bill. I had the illusion that I would actually study the bills and see who they were calling and vice versa. Doesn’t happen. My perusal of the bills is limited to who stayed within their minutes and who downloaded the AC/DC ringtone.

The phone is occasionally for one of the little guys. I hear them on the phone grunting for several minutes. They hang up.

I ask: Who was it?

They answer: No one.

What did you talk about, I ask.

They answer: Nothing.

Short of getting out a harsh light and rubber *** I’m not sure how much more involved the law allows me, as a parent, to be.

Watch, listen and enjoy

The two young ladies on the right are 6 years old. The two in the middle are 7 and the one on the left is 8 . Unbelievable.

John Stossel

I finally found the John Stossel special on Libertarianism on YouTube. This is part 2 of 5 and is brilliant. Libertarian thinkers explain how is was government, not the free market or capitalism, that caused our recent financial melt down. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57hcqsD_btg&feature=related

Jack Flanagan's funeral

Just found this picture on one of my niece's Facebook page. Taken by Ronda when we were all toasting my dad.

Our Finest Hour

Our Finest Hour [Mark Steyn]

Ever since this health care "debate" got going, I've worried that American conservatives underestimate the ability of Big Government to transform the character of a people. After all, the Euro-weenies weren't always Euro-weenies - else how would they have conquered the entire planet? Readers who think I'm just a mopey downer loser (as not a few do) might prefer this alternative take from Hillsdale's Paul Rahe. While "agreeing with almost every word" of mine, he has an entirely different conclusion:

We are not yet a people apt to acquiesce in dictates handed down by our lords and masters. When Britain and Canada drifted into socialism, there were no tea parties spontaneously formed by ordinary citizens to buck the trend. The British and the Canadians lacked the spirit of resistance – though, to be fair, it lived on in the likes of Margaret Thatcher.

We Americans are made of sterner stuff. During the Cold War, we defended the Free World. In our absence, I am convinced, everyone else would have given way...

In my view, [Barack Obama] and today’s Democratic Party represent the last gasp of the Progressive impulse. The tyrannical ambition hidden at the heart of Progressivism’s quest for what Franklin Delano Roosevelt termed “rational administration” Barack Obama has made manifest; and to all with eyes to see, the danger that we have temporized with for nearly a century is now perfectly visible... What is required in what he calls “this defining moment” is what Abraham Lincoln once called “a new birth of freedom.” The period we just entered could be our finest hour.

How to spend money

1. You spend your money on yourself. You're motivated to get the thing you want most at the best price. This is the way middle-aged men haggle with Porsche dealers.
2. You spend your money on other people. You still want a bargain, but you're less interested in pleasing the recipient of your largesse. This is why children get underwear at Christmas.
3. You spend other people's money on yourself. You get what you want but price no longer matters. The second wives who ride around with the middle-aged men in the Porsches do this kind of spending at Neiman Marcus.
4. You spend other people's money on other people. And in this case, who gives a shit?

P.J. O'Rourke

hmmm ... who's hiring right now?

Haven't heard a word about new doctors, new nurses, new clinics, new hospitals or more importantly, new Med Schools. Did hear, however, that the IRS is hiring. I wonder why? Click on the following if you want to see a Dem Representative NOT give an answer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O6Jk7icfMw&feature=player_embedded

Benishek for Congress

Following is the text from a fax that I just sent to Congressman Stupak along with a copy of the $25.00 donation I made to Benishek for Congress:

Dear Congressman Stupak:

I attempted to send you an email last week thanking you for your principled stand for life and against President Obama's destructive healthcare bill.

Unfortunately, since I do not reside in your district, the email didn't go through.

Much has changed since last week. I am enclosing a copy of the donation I made to Benishek for Congress. Due the economy times are tough, but I wanted to let you know that this donation to Mr. Benishek is the first of many. I will continue to make a weekly donation to his campaign and do whatever I can to help him defeat you.

If I was still a Democrat my disappointment in you would know no bounds. As I changed my party 10 years ago, you leave me disgusted in my former party and satisfied with my decision to re-register as a Republican.

Sincerely,

Anne (Flanagan) Yenny

Monrovia CA

Tattered Liberty

BRILLIANT article by Mark Steyn. Read about the true cost to America of Obamacare:

http://article.nationalreview.com/428996/tattered-liberty/mark-steyn

Event at the Ronald Reagan Library

I had the pleasure of attending a book signing over the weekend at the Ronald Reagan library. Gary Sinese was there and graciously agreed to a picture but only if I promised to quit calling him "Mr. Sinese" and call him Gary instead. What a gentleman.

Who will deliver the love letters?

Charles Krauthammer talking about closing the Post Office. As he notes earlier, talk "privatization" and "business model" all you like, but the Post Office has a mandate that no private company every will: to deliver mail to everywhere in the U.S., no matter how remote. And I thought this was lovely:

[As for] the hard-hearted younger generation — well, if you ever got a sweet-smelling love letter at 17, you'd feel otherwise. Of course, I never did, but somebody did.

Well, well, well ...

"And yet it has to be said and it should be understood — now, almost seven hellish years later — that something that looks mighty like democracy is emerging in Iraq. And while it may not be a beacon of inspiration to the region, it most certainly is a watershed event that could come to represent a whole new era in the history of the massively undemocratic Middle East."

Above from this week's Newsweek. Wonder if there will be any quotes from leaders who in the past declared the war lost? Ahh ... you know what they say: being on the left means never having to say you're sorry.

Billy, Uncle Harry, Harry

Me, Uncle Harry & Pat

Pat and Uncle Harry

Three great pics

Dad and me at Joe's 40th BD, Uncle Harry and me at his 90th BD party, Pat and Uncle Harry at same.

Edinburgh

Pat standing at Edinburgh Castle with the city in the background.

Gays in the military

As you all know, I just lost my dad last November; he and I spent more time in heated debate than any other activity (and we both loved it). In the 90's when Clinton was President we got in a huge argument about gays in the military (I was probably pro, he was probably against, but who knows?). Finally, I said: Look, Dad. Neither one of us is gay; neither is in the military, neither one of us knows what we're talking about, so let's drop it.

To which my JY, for years a quiet observer of our debates said: Since when does knowing what your talking about make a difference to either one of you?

Fast forward 15 years. I have a son in the military. To the current debate I would say: Leave it up to the military. They know best and only they should have a voice in the decision because they have to live with the consequences. But after the Ft Hood debacle and military's mishandling, I no longer have the confidence that they have the common sense to make the correct decision. Apparently they are as PC and foolish as the average politician.

Published on National Review Online!!!:

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=M2I5OGQ3YzllM2JjMTAxZmY1YzZmNTA3ODJlNDYwMGM=

Army Navy Game 2009

For the life of me, I can't resize so you can see the full screen (above is cutting off approximately one inch on the right). Double click and you'll go directly to YouTube where you can see everything.

horrifying statistic

"The United States had 2.3 state and local government employees per 100 citizens in 1946 and has 6.5 state and local government employees per 100 citizens now. In 1947, Hodges writes, 78 percent of the national income went to the private sector, 16 percent to the federal sector, and 6 percent to the state and local government sector. Now 54 percent of the economy is private, 28 percent goes to the feds, and 18 percent goes to state and local governments. The trend lines are ominous"

from http://corner.nationalreview.com/