It's 22 Minutes Of Your Life...

...<and worth every second.>   

It's very rare for a political speech to be worthwhile, let alone memorable, but this is both.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio's speech at the Munich Security Conference is one for the ages...an instant classic and "must listen" to understand Trump's clear vision on foreign policy and the future of our NATO alliance.

Rubio received a standing ovation for this speech, and well he should have.

It is the most eloquent enunciation of the joint history, shared values and continuing bond between the United States and Europe ever given by a US diplomat.

He notes correctly that "...our home may be in the Western Hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe".

Emphasizing our roots, he recounts our origins from the Italian explorer who "discovered" the new world and brought Christianity here, to the English settlers from whom we got our language and system of laws.

He lists the Scots/Irish frontiersman who pushed our borders westward and the German immigrants who transformed empty plains into the breadbasket of the world.

He remembers the French fur traders who settled the Mississippi valley as well as the Spanish vaqueros who embodied the rugged adventurism of the Old West.

And he reminds them of the Dutch industrialists who built our most important city and named it New Amsterdam, long before it became "New York".

In short he elucidates the significance of Western culture and puts to rest the lie that America wants to "go it alone".

Make no mistake; we will if we have to, but that's not the goal.

Our deepest desire is for allies who will be strong, independent, able to defend their countries and committed to the trans-Atlantic bond we have shared for centuries.

His follow up interviews and Q&A sessions emphatically underlined Rubio's firm grasp of the intricate nuances of international politics.

And then - by way of hilarious contrast - there was tweedle-dee...

...and tweedle dum...

...who inexplicably thought they belonged at this conference.

Apparently they didn't heed the "adults only" requirement.

The unintended result was <embarrasingly comedic relief>.

The incomprehensible word salads offered up by AOC in response to basic foreign policy questions about the China / Taiwan situation would make even Kamala blush.

Incredibly, Wretched Dimwitmer was worse: when asked what victory in Ukraine would look like, she humiliated herself by actually deferring to AOC as having more knowledge on foreign policy!

It was the equivalent of publicly confessing, "She may be an ignoramus, but I'm even dumber."

If they're the cream of the D crop, 2028 is looking fine.

Ok, let's play "What's Wrong With This Picture?"

Study it closely, and see if you can tell what's out of place.

I'll give you a minute to ruminate...

If you guessed "the jumbo container of Antacid Tablets because no one needs that many" - wrong!  I work in IT where a regular diet of stress and chaos is part of my job description.

If you guessed "the bag of green apples, because <God didn't make little green apples and it don't rain in Indianapolis in the summer time>" - wrong again!  In later years Glen Campbell was forced to bend the knee to the woke mob for spreading disinformation and was banned from both Twitstorm and Fakebook.*

If you guessed "that lazy cat laying on top of the bag of carrots on the counter" - O my...don't let Karen hear you.  I'll do you a big favor and pretend you never said that.

I can see you're struggling with this, so here's the correct - and may I say, quite obvious - answer:

The Aldi Hedgehog Birthday critter.

As everyone knows, in February you should only be displaying Aldi Valentine Gnomes:

Duh.

*it's possible this is balderdash.

Here's some excitement...over the past week we've gone from this:

...to this:

...which means I've been doing this:

To be honest I can't tell if all those days of swinging my hickories in the cold and snow actually helped or not.

Overall it's been pretty ugly with occasional flashes of competence, but either way I'm going to keep swinging 'em.

In spite of how it may sound if you're within earshot after one of my errant swings, it's fun.

No, really.

Fun.

My kingdom for some talent.

Let's all line up for some of that delicious 23 Skidoo, shall we?

Yummmmmmm...

a former co-worker (that's not him) who now lives in Florida...

...recently shared some of his daily scenery...

...as a reminder he lives in paradise and we don't.

but we do get to watch our babies

apparently our faux spring has met its wintry end

After 50+ years in the work place I've seen a lot of things come and go - ideas, concepts, fads purporting to be the new and exciting way to get ahead and achieve success.

Most of them were really just the same ol' schtick with a new label, though some did have value.

One of the dumbest I ever saw was during the online craze of the late 90's.

They announced the "new economy" which centered on the critical need for an online presence and profit was no longer an issue.

It was puzzling to watch this mania as companies raced to throw money at the "dot com bubble".

Hundreds of startups burned through multiple rounds of financing until someone was left holding whatever was left of the bag at the end.

The "dot com crash" in 2000 saw internet stocks declining 75% from their high points and wiping out 1.75 trillion dollars of value.

Talk about a resounding rebuke of years of "irrational exuberance"!

In spite of all of mankind's failed "get rich quick" schemes, God's eternal truth remains:

"By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches and honor and life."

    - Proverbs 22:4

That's a life plan you can bank on.

later, mcm fans...

Recognize This?

Well howdy, stranger...it's been awhile.

Haven't seen much of Mr. Sun lately; we've had actual winter this year, replete with clouds and cold and snow and ice.

In a word, grim.

But according to the weather nerds, we're on the front end of a week long stretch of sunny and warmer, and I am so here for it.

is that Harry Vardon?

Ok, that might be stretching the warm stretch just a bit - they're calling for sunny and 40's and we're still more than a month away from <Spring!> - but I can dream...

 

Shocking news from the mental defectives with the big blue D after their names:

<less than 14% of illegal immigrants being deported are guilty of violent crime!>

Obviously, they don't want any of the 20 million illegals recruited during the Biden/Harris years to be deported.

That tidal wave of foreign nationals was their strategy to avoid political extinction; it had nothing to do with compassion, only power.

Their plan was to use these illegals to reshape the electorate, then rule for generations.

But trying to build a case for keeping murderers and rapists in our country seems a bridge too far, even for moral reprobates like the D's.

So the latest tactic by the Jackass party...

...is trying to gin up support for letting all the rest of the illegal aliens stay because they're non-violent.

That apparently means they're cool with pedophiles, drug dealers, child pornographers, drunk drivers, human traffickers, embezzlers and burglars - all of whom are being deported for their "non-violent" crimes.

Do you want to live in that neighborhood?

Neither do the AWFLs*, but they figure they won't have to.

At the end of their <paid stint attacking federal agents>  arresting criminals, they'll return to their gated communities far from the madding crowd, congratulating themselves for being so real. 

For them, the bottom line is always the same:

It's just all wrong because Trump, or something.

America used to be "the melting pot", where immigrants came legally to assimilate.

Of course they retained and celebrated their heritage, but they left their country for the freedoms and opportunities that America offered and proudly became Americans.

They studied our history, embraced our culture, learned our language and often became better citizens than those of us born here; too often we took our good fortune for granted while they treasured their new home.

But as the recent revelation of <widespread Somali fraud> has proved, what I described above belongs to a bygone generation.

Now America is seen as little more than a cookie jar filled with goodies to be raided.

They're not here to become Americans, but rather to rip off the American tax payer and build mini-countries of their own on our soil.

You know, enjoy the freedoms and prosperity America provides while creating their own caliphates:

Live under sharia law, build communities where Americans and law enforcement aren't welcome, and in general give the middle finger to our country and culture while stealing our money.

a Somali daycare with zero children; it's good work if you can get it

Trump was elected to do the job he's doing - deport illegal aliens, secure our borders, strengthen our military, protect our citizens, safeguard our elections, improve our economy.

Rock on.

*AWFL - Affluent White Female Liberal

I would be remiss if I did not give a tip o' the hat to everyone's favorite Hallmark Holiday:

the tulips on the left are still hanging in from Karen's birthday a couple of weeks ago; the ones on the right are Aldi specials just in time for Cupid's big dustup

Valentine's Day!  May you remember to do all the right things and thus avoid <the fate of St. Valentine>.

And as an added bonus, it's also <Pale Blue Dot Day>!

Do something useful with your free trip around the sun this year:

16  The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

    - Psalm 115:16

He made the earth for us; we should be kind and do right by our fellow sojourners.

As the old saying opines, "When you were born, you cried and others rejoiced.

"Live in such a way that when death comes, you rejoice and others cry."

Brace yourselves, it's time to 23 Skidoo:

99% positive ratings from viewers; 92% negative from critics.  you can depend on this surefire rule: "if the critics hate it, it's a good movie".

me, dreaming I've gained 15 lbs; Loki, wondering how long until the inert lump gets up and lets him out

Ziggy, courtesy of Tom Wilson, adding some much needed humor to current events

my beloved made an apple pie for Valentine's day...note the hearts and arrows in the crust

deer dinner date

The other day I was buying bags of bird seed and deer feed when the young girl at the checkout asked me, "Do you need help loading those bags?"

"No," I replied, as I tore off my jacket and flexed my enormous muskuls...

..."that's why I let my wife tag along."

Ok, none of that past the word "No" actually happened, witness the fact I'm writing this from my living room rather than a jail cell.

But Karen did suggest I might want to use that line - and only that line - next time.

The sad reality is my youth has fled like a coward before the schoolyard bully of advancing years.

Now people look at me and think, "Gramps is gonna need help lifting that".

The good news is, I actually don't need help - yet.

The days are definitely coming, but so far a regular exercise routine and reasonable diet are helping me stay physically fit.

But a more important question might be, how's my spiritual fitness?

How's my daily walk with God?

The Apostle Paul makes it clear which realm - the physical or spiritual - is most important as we tread this mortal coil:

8  For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

    - I Timothy 4:8

Don't neglect your body, it's the only one you get this side of heaven.

But your walk with God is far more important; it helps you navigate life's many problems now, and continues into eternity.

later, mcm fans...

It's Stupor Bowl Weekend...

...when the Lions, led by Hall Of Fame quarterback Dutch Clark:

a little athletic tape on that broken nose should do the trick.  a rival coach once said, "if dutch clark, red grange, george gipp and jim thorpe played on the same team, dutch would be the general".

...will take on the Bears and their bruising All-Universe fullback, Bronko Nagurski:

footballs were bigger back then; look at the size of his hands.  they used to say, "to see the path nagurski ran, follow the blood trail".

Game starts when the meatwagons arrive, and I'll bet you a sawbuck it's going to be aces for the Lions.  1935 is their year.

So give your calico a honey cooler, then sit back and have a swell time.

Just remember, if you're driving your flivver home, don't get spifflicated or you might get pinched by a bull.

Back in the real world I'm pretty sure it's the whoevers vs the who cares...

...which this year equates to the Seahawks vs the Patriots.

The game will be on since Karen likes to see the commercials, and I'll glance at it now and then, but don't have a dog in this hunt, so don't care who wins.

I'm just glad Liberal Bubble Girl (<"F* the patriarchy!">, <"vote for Kamala!">) and the future Mr. Liberal Bubble Girl...

After he lost the big game and she was booed for the 1st time in her career, T&T ditched the spotlight and settled into a sedate middle class existence somewhere in suburbia.

...aren't involved in any way this year.

Go Lions!

As promised, I read Distant Replay...

...Jerry Kramer's third book in a trilogy that covers his epic journey from obscurity in a little Idaho town to the top of the NFL world - oddly enough, in a little Wisconsin city - and ending with a reunion of his fellow champions two decades later.

In some ways this is the best of the three.

It details how these very different, highly competitive individuals, with a shared past rooted in the Lombardi legend, embraced the victories and endured the losses of life after football.

And there were far more victories, at least on a business level, than losses.

The reason given for their successes by almost all of them is the same:

Vince Lombardi.

His impact on them re: pursuing and achieving excellence - no shortcuts, no cheating - in every aspect of life was both undeniable and far reaching.

But Kramer's recounting of this reunion isn't all happy talk.

The parts about Hall Of Fame running back Jim Taylor are tough to read, and the sad fate of Lionel Aldridge reminds us life is hard and we all struggle.

Even if football and sports are not your thing, these three books - Instant Replay, Farewell To Football, Distant Replay - are worth your time.

Together they provide a window into a world very few of us will ever experience, while expounding a set of principles all of us would do well to emulate.

Don't say I never did nuthin' for ya.

Enough football already!  Let's 23 Skidoo:

as if we needed it, a fresh snowfall reminds us it's still winter

this is by far the cutest little deer we have hanging around...

...joined here by his friends and relatives

a look at what they do while we're sleeping

a good Harry Edison jazz album recommended to me by #1 grandson

Loki - aka Mr. Imperious - in a feisty mood.  in the middle of the night when he wants to go outside he jumps on the bed and, certain I'm not doing anything important, perches on my chest until I rise and obey.

I could tell when reading Distant Replay that Jerry Kramer was searching for something - something that all his achievements in athletics, writing and business were unable to give him.

He said, "My dream is to strike a harmonious balance among work, family and my own personal quest.

"I don't know if it's spiritual or emotional or what, but I do know that I'm searching for some kind of answers that will bring me a certain measure of peace." 

It's the "same old story in our fight for love and glory" - we have a hole in our souls that nothing can fill except God Himself.

That's by design.

Jesus said,

"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.  No man cometh unto the Father but by Me."

    - John 14:6

I don't know if Jerry Kramer ever came to Christ - I hope so.

He's 90 years old now, so time is running out.

The good news is God's not hiding from us, but we are specifically commanded to seek Him.

"6  Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near.

"7  Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

    - Isaiah 55:6,7

God is present and available; we must be ready and willing.

later, mcm fans...