Another Great P.J. Quote

“There is no virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue in advocating it. A politician who portrays himself as caring and sensitive because he wants to expand the government’s charitable programs is merely saying that he is willing to do good with other people’s money. Well, who isn’t? And a voter who takes pride in supporting such programs is telling us that he will do good with his own money— if a gun is held to his head.”

~ P. J. O’Rourke

(these were my thoughts during Ted Kennedy's funeral)

October 2009

Not that I live under the illusion that I have many readers, but those of you who are wondering why no new news lately, my dad is has been diagnosed with lung cancer.

He just finished some radiation treatment for tumors in his brain; this Wed he will meet with the oncologist to make decisions about further treatment.

Needless to say, I was distracted on our trip to Annapolis to visit Jonathon. We had to break the news to him (JY did the honors) and I had to make several calls to Scotland. The worst was to my cousin Margaret; she and her sister Lucille had to inform my dad's nearly-90 year old brother of the bad news.

But it was a good trip nonetheless; we went to a couple of classes with Jonathon (Game theory was the most interesting), including swimming where Nate and I held our breath waiting to see if Jonathon would require rescue (he didn't! the Navy has at least taught him to swim)

We had a great time watching Navy beat Louisiana Tech. We also ran into the Rupp family (children of our friend Margaret's, a family where everyone either went to USNA, married someone who went to USNA or gave birth to someone who went to USNA)

We also went to Mike's for our traditional crab fest. The Yenny Men make a good showing and sat to the last minute eating cleanup. We met some of Jonathon's friends' parents and enjoyed all of them. Seems like all the fun people are from Texas or Oklahoma these days.

I posted a few pics to the right (someday I will figure out my camera and get an inside pic that doesn't look awful)

My family has started a blog with news and updates about my dad at: http://californiaflanagans.blogspot.com/

Surrounded by Marines

C McDonald, Pat, me, Jonathon at lunch during Jonathon's summer break. Really ... it's a coincidence that we were sitting in front of a beer sign!

Andrew Jackson ....

said the following in his farewell address:

There is but one safe rule, and that is to confine the General Government rigidly within the sphere of its appropriate duties. It has no power to raise a revenue or impose taxes except for the purposes enumerated in the Constitution, and if its income is found to exceed these wants it should be forthwith reduced and the burden of the people so far lightened.

Barack Obama should be forced to right it on a blackboard a trillion times.

Mark Steyn on nationalized healthcare

You’ve Had a Good Innings
Ultimately, government health represents the nationalization of your body.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTAxYzFjODdiN2E3OWUyNzY1MDU1ODM1ZjZjYmY3YjM=&w=MA==

On the other hand ...

The last couple of days on the bloggersphere has been : you're guy is immoral ... oh yeah! so is your guy. To which I say: A pox on both their houses. I just want fewer and fewer of them:

The problem is big government. If whoever controls government can impose his way upon you, you have to fight constantly to prevent the control from being harmful. With small, limited government, it doesn’t much matter who controls it, because it can’t do you much harm. — Harry Browne

C.S. LEWIS

Even after all these years, C.S. Lewis is still relevant. Tell me this doesn't apply to our current administration:

“It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometime sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences.”

We need a definition of "un-American"

This is for Nancy Pelosi, since she seems to think raised voices and an angry electorate is "un-American." The following is from a book by Gordon Wood and describes what happened when congress voted to double its own salary in 1816:

Now the people had a chance to make their resentment felt. Throughout the country public meetings composed of both political parties denounced the law that had raised the salaries of congressmen. Several state legislatures along with Fourth of July orators bitterly condemned it. Glasses were raised in criticism; the compensation law, noted one New York editor, was “toasted until it is black.” In Georgia opponents even burned the members of Congress in effigy.

Critics of the raise were especially incensed at Congressman Wright’s indiscreet comment about not being able to enjoy a good glass of wine and cited it over and over to great effect. Popular outrage was unprecedented, and the reputation of Congress was severely tarnished. Even congressmen who had voted against the law had to promise humbly to work to repeal it and to return the salary they had already received. In the fall elections of 1816 nearly 70 percent of the Fourteenth Congress was not returned to the Fifteenth Congress. In January 1817 a chastened lame-duck Fourteenth Congress met to debate the issue of exactly what representation meant, and by and large it determined that the people had every right to instruct their congressmen.

Taking "branding" a little too far

How creepy is this? Our esteemed leader, who not only has his own logo, has his minions working on a logo for nationalized healthcare. So, let's say for argument's sake that the healthcare bill goes through (God forbid), and it's with us for a very, very long time. Worse case scenario is that President Obama will be our president until 2016. But the modified "Obama" logo will live on and on and on.

See here: http://www.gormogons.com/2009/08/its-all-about-me.html

One clever commentor on another blog said it looks like all of our dead relatives are calling us to the light.

Jeff and Mike's pictures from Pebble Beach

Pebble Beach June 2009 Jeff and Mike's Pics

Pebble Beach June 2009

Click on the picture above to see a slideshow of Pebble Beach pictures courtesy of Jeff Houser.

Pebble Beach June 2009

Pat and I were able to watch intermittently when our guys hit the 18th green at Pebble Beach. Here are a few pics I snagged from the webcam. I will post Mike's pictures as soon as they're available. In the above pics all I know for sure is JY is the guy with the white pants.

Looks like the perfect end to what has been described as a perfect day.

It's been a blast

As a parent at Holy Angels, the past 16 years have been spent in a Groundhog’s Day–type of experience, each year yet another opportunity to get it right. Or at least do it better.

 

Many dances and field trips and projects and book reports and class parties and teachers and principals have come and gone.

 

Some things have not changed: no matter how many remodels my house is still too small; my car, no matter how big, is still too small; the drive to Holy Angels still has too many four-way stops and the traffic light in front of the church is the longest ever.

 

On the other hand, my family got bigger and so did the list of friends made. And the world changed; coverage of 9-11 was watched in the teacher’s lounge, we’ve gotten through four presidential elections and babies are now heading off to high school.

 

When my children were younger, there was more than one free dress day that was I was completely uninformed of until we arrived in the parking lot. Lucky for us, our habit of NEVER cleaning out the van had the benefit of providing clothes to put on in the parking lot.

 

I had the honor of watching all of my children participate in many, many class masses. The most famous was in 2000 when my then 7^th grader feinted in a pew, resulting in yet another trip to the emergency room. The important lesson of how to properly stand at attention was learned that day, a skill that has served him well in adulthood.

 

I will never forget the joy of watching Christmas programs that were actually about Christmas, celebrating the birth of Jesus. I thank all the teachers and parents who dedicated themselves to that production each year and for your patience in dealing with Yenny children who unfortunately inherited their singing voice from me.

 

Many teachers have come and gone and I thank every one of them for their dedication and compassion. And I guess I should confess that I never did get your birthdays straight; more than one flower for your birthday bouquet was “borrowed” from the church garden. (And thank you, Father Mike, for providing not only wonderful leadership but also that garden.)

 

Managing the logistics of getting children to school was at times challenging but provided two points of pride: I never got a ticket and I was ALWAYS in a carpool. Cheri Crowder and I must hold the record for longest-running carpool; I thank her and all the parents who carpooled with me, and the many kids who provided not only entertainment but valuable information about what was really going on at school. And their patience at the end of the day while they waited for Mr. Kristoff and me to discuss which ever current event demanded our attention.

 

Regarding the carpool, I’ve always been quick to say that I’m a good Catholic; not a great one and that all the kids in my van are not my own. But I’ve changed my mind: I would be happy to claim each and every one of them as my own.

 

These last years have had the “benefit” of cell phones added to my children’s arsenal of how to communicate with me. I still can’t understand what they’re saying and now I can add the fact that I can’t understand what they’re writing. Someone, anyone … please, write a dictionary defining the language they are using when writing text messages.

 

And to Sam, who always thought he only had to mumble once to convey important information and is extremely impatient at having to repeat himself: I feel your pain. No one in this house is listening to me, either.

 

The school has added a website and a principal’s blog to their arsenal of communication; lucky for me Kathleen and Sharon never stopped answering the school office phone because I never did manage to keep practice times and games and short day dismissals and field trips straight.

 

I hope all you parents have at least one child who participates a talent show. And if you don’t, go anyway. There’s nothing like watching a 6-year old boy impersonating Frank Sinatra, little girls enthusiastically belting out “I feel Like a Woman” or your own child having the courage at an age that you never did.

 

Getting two children (so far) through high school certainly put into perspective the challenges and frustrations of children in grade school: to parents, my own kids and their teachers past and present, I apologize for any over reaction on my part. And to the teachers and principals were in a position to judge various less-than-ideal behaviors on the part of Yenny children, I thank you for NOT over-reacting.

 

We thank everyone at the Holy Angels School and parish who have graciously allowed the Yenny family to be part of your community. We feel truly blessed. It's been a blast.

Evan Sayet at the Heritage Foundation / worth your time

ANOTHER great P.J. quote

From Australia this week:

Long term there's only one thing that gives me hope as a right-winger - the left-wing.

It's going to be hard to do a worse job running America than the Republicans did, but the Democrats can do it if anyone can.

The Left is the party of government activism - the party that says government can make you richer, smarter, slimmer, taller, and take a dozen strokes off your golf game.

The Right is the party that says government doesn't work. And then they get elected and prove it.

The US Government is going to take over the American car industry. I can predict the result - a light-weight, compact vehicle with a small carbon footprint using sustainable alternative energy. When I was a kid we called it a bike.

Washington DC April 2009

A picture of Jonathon on Sunday morning after spending the evening with my friend Mel and me. We stayed up WAY too late but it was worth it.

This is a pic of Jonathon at the Pentagon 9-11 memorial. We spent the day with Loriana and John Jacob, people I worked with at Crocker Bank(!) many years ago.

All my pictures of the trip are in a web album on the right. The Pentagon Memorial was very moving. The sunset pictures were taken from National Harbor where I was attending a trade show.

A GREAT trip with every weather (except snow) having been experienced.

Tea Party in El Segundo

Sam and Nate went with me to El Segundo for the South Bay Tea Party. Sam was sorely disappointed by the good behavior of the crowd, when we arrived and saw about 8 cop cars he had high hopes for excitement. He said he had hoped at least a few anarchists would show up.

We met Cris Molles there and ran into Carl Dreizler. The wind was blowing 20 mph + and it was FREEZING. But it was a great crowd and Tammy Bruce gave a great speech.

There were a lot of great posters, but the above is my favorite.

From Downtown Annapolis

2009 Guide to the U.S. Naval Academy

Nate and I went to a USNA recruiting meeting last weekend. And what to our wondering eyes does appear on page 55? The above picture, show actual size on the left and zoomed in to Midshipman Jonathon Yenny on the right.

Redistributionists ... Listen to P.J.

I think the Old Testament is quite clear about that. The Bible might seem to be a strange place to be doing economic research, but I have been thinking, from a political economy point of view, about the Tenth Commandment. Now the first nine commandments concern theological principles--thou shall not steal and kill and so forth. Fair enough. Then there's the Tenth Commandment: "Thou shall not covet they neighbor's wife. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's house, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's." I mean, here are God's basic rules for how we should live, a very brief list of sacred obligations and solemn moral precepts, and right at the end of it is: "Don't envy your buddy his cow." What is that doing there? Why would God, with just 10 things to tell Moses, choose jealousy about the stuff the guy next door has? Well, think about how important to the well-being of a community that commandment actually is. What that commandment says is that if you want a donkey, if you want a pot roast, if you want a cleaning lady, don't bitch about it, go get your own!

The Tenth Commandment sends a message to socialists, to collectivists, to people who believe that wealth is best obtained by redistribution, and that message is clear and concise: Go to hell! It's as simple as that.