Invasion of the Grandsons

We're driving to TX today to pick up our two youngest grandsons (14 and 6) and will bring them back home with us on Monday. They'll stay with us for a week. We've got several outings planned including a trip to the planetarium and a visit to nearby Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, KY. The oldest, Brent, made me promise NOT to take him to the Grand Ole Opry. Heh.

We're looking forward to a really fun time with the boys.

Anyway, over the next several days the posts here will be short, sweet (maybe), and intermittent. I hope all of you out there enjoy these mid summer days and check in from time to time at the old Cumberland Post. I vill be back.

Meantime, here's a little Tony Rice. "Church Street Blues," titled for a street parallel to Broad in Nashville. Bye ya'll.

Crystal Balls

Lots of liberal "experts" and big time pundits are ready to whip out their crystal balls (heh) and make a prediction about the future at the drop of a hat.

They will quickly tell you what rosy things will happen if we dutifully follow Obama's plan for the US. They will also tell you what dire consequences we will face if we don't do what High Priest Al Gore and the other Green Bozos say we should do. Truth is, they're about as accurate as Jeanne Dixon (remember her?).

For example. From I Hate the Media: "Remember how the Obama administration’s Car Czar told us that General Government Motors path to future prosperity was hybrid cars? Turns out that pronouncement was about as accurate as the rest of the forecasts from this gang of economic incompetents."

June sales of hybrid vehicles have tanked, dropping below 2% of overall sales. Those prissy little vehicles that snooty liberals love to drive had their biggest market share of 3% in 2008 when gas prices were at $4.00 a gallon; in losing 1/3 of their market share, their sales have obviously dropped like the Titanic since then.

But guess what? Most "experts" had predicted a 5% share by now and one respected forecaster (obviously one of Al Gore's cadre of eco-masseuses) said their share would be 17% this year.  And you know what kind of car's market share is improving? You guessed it. SUV's. ("I hate the Media "h/t mean ol' meany)

So, if you have to speculate about the future, who do you trust? I'm usually skeptical of most predictions that go further than tomorrow. But if I must pick a prophet, give me one that knows about the past. Why? Since humans learn at a glacial pace, the past tends to repeat itself. Who knows about the past? Historians do, unless they're of the ilk that are too busy trying to revise it to suit their Marxist goals.

There is one Historian guy I trust, even when he makes a prognosis about the future. I trust him because I know he's extrapolating from a solid base of present and past knowledge.

In an interview with Blog4History, Victor Davis Hanson answers the question: "where do you see the United States in 20 years, both militarily and politically?"

VDH: I think it will be militarily preeminent, but its supremacy won’t be unquestioned when a billion-person China or India can marry their newly energized capitalist economies and limitless manpower to high-tech, Western weaponry. Our status ultimately hinges on the degree that we maintain a free market, productive economy, encourage immigration of the risk-taking and entrepreneurial, avoid tribalism and social unrest, and retain a tragic sense that military forces are necessary as a deterrent against greater evils than peacetime military expenditure. Clearly much of this depends on a competitive educational system that instill a tragic sense of self, rather than the current trends to a therapeutic curriculum that emphasize questions of self-esteem in lieu of imparting facts and inductive methodologies.

Read the complete article. It's well worth your time.

In this last paragraph of the interview, Hanson explains what the US should do to ensure its survival. These are issues of current political debate. Is he right? What do you think?

Do you think, to take his last example, what goes on in the classrooms of the US now, helping little Jack and little Jill to feel better about themselves, will produce in twenty years the kinds of citizens necessary to ensure our survival as a nation?

Mystery Train

One of the few things I ever won in my life was a Lionel Train set at the Inglewood Theater back in 1951. I still have the old engine, tender, and a couple of the green passenger cars in the set.

I got hooked on real trains earlier than that, back in 1945 when Mom took me on a long train ride to visit Dad when he was in basic training for the Army Air Corps. He was stationed in Paris, TX, so we took the whole round trip from Nashville on a train.

These memories surfaced again last week when Big Ed sent some me some great train pics.

Then last night we watched a fairly poor independent movie called "Mystery Train," which is set in Memphis and features a few scenes on board an Amtrak. Time for a train post.

So, while you listen to Little Junior and Elvis do their versions of a great song, take a gander at the great train pics below the video. Thanks Ed.

It's a Beautiful Day and a Beautiful Country

Happy Independence Day y'all.

According to John Nolte at Big Hollywood, Ray Charles sang this song on the Dick Cavett Show in 1971. That was at the height of the hippie anti-war movement. Rock on Ray.

Independence and Freedom

John Hancock, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and all the others who later signed the document that was first approved on July 4, 1776. Think for a minute about the risk the signers of the Declaration of Independence took. They knew that the English would view this act as treason. They knew that if caught they would be hanged. They knew that this document would plunge the nation into war and that soldiers and other Americans would die. These risks had to be a heavy psychological burden, and yet they found the courage within themselves to take this momentous step.

They signed.

As John Adams said, "I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy."

On this day of barbeque, burgers, baked beans, slaw, chips, cokes, and beer, on this day of fellowship with friends and family, on this day of firework displays and celebration, on this day of Independence, on this day of freedom, we should all remember what the Declaration meant then and now and how much human courage it took to sign it.

When I started thinking about this post, I also remembered American Poet Walt Whitman who said, "The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislatures, nor in its ambassadors or authors or colleges, or churches, or parlors, nor even in its newspapers or inventors, but always most in the common people."

Ordinarily, my fellow bloggers might not take too kindly to being called "common," but in the sense that Whitman meant, and in the sense of the Declaration, we are "common citizens." (But we are not subjects. Don't tread on us!) 

Adams challenged Americans to use their freedom to "dare to read, think, speak, and write." Thanks to the risk that he and the other founders took, bloggers are free to do that every day. July 4th is no exception.

To celebrate this great holiday, Barry the Barbarian posts an excellent article which posits that the American Declaration of Independence was a "profoundly American" and spiritual document.

Andy has a beautiful picture of a silhouetted cross on the American flag created by light shining through.

Buck posts the complete Declaration of Independence.

Paul at mean ol' meany points out that the original Declaration "declared our independence from an oppressive regime in England," but that today we seem hellbent on letting our government enslave us. He also has lots and lots of good links.

My own contribution today is a video remembering and honoring our military. Once the Declaration of Independence was signed and sent to England, the founders knew war with England would follow.

Adopting the Declaring of Independence on July 4, 1776, meant immediately building an army to protect the fledgling independent and free country from the invading British.

Keeping that independence and freedom over the years has required the use of military force. So as we celebrate today, July 4, 2010, and remember that precious document and those courageous founders, let's also remember the soldiers, airmen, and sailors who put their lives on the line today to protect that freedom and independence that we cherish and exercise daily.

Nude Friday Classic Hottie: Brigitte Bardot

Because she's French, many Americans forget about Brigitte Bardot, the former actress, animal rights activist, fashion model, and singer. Bardot was certainly the equal of Marilyn Monroe and was an international example of "hotness" and female sexuality in films of the 1950s and 1960s.


According to Wiki, "In her early life Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer. She started her acting career in 1952 and after appearing in 16 films became world-famous due to her role in the controversial film And God Created Woman. During her career in show business Bardot starred in 48 films, performed in numerous musical shows, and recorded 80 songs. After her retirement from the entertainment industry in 1973, Bardot established herself as an animal rights activist. During the 1990s she became outspoken due to her criticism of immigration, race-mixing, some aspects of homosexuality and Islam in France, and has been fined five times for 'inciting racial hatred'."

I admire her courage in speaking out against those "aspects" of Islam but I'm not in a political mood today so I won't go further with it.

Bardot may not be your cup of tea. But to me her sexuality always had substance. Even though quite young, when she first appeared in films, she wasn't a girl (even in the earliest film clips below). She was a woman.

Attention Contemporary Actresses as well as interested males: If you want to see how it was done (and done right) way back when, check out the following video clips illustrating Bardot's film career:




Some interesting things Bardot has said over the years:

I know what sin is.

I started out as a lousy actress and have remained one.

Only idiots refuse to change their minds

If only every man who sees my films did not get the impression he can make love to me, I would be a lot happier.

Louisiana Poll Shows Residents Think Bush Handled Katrina Better than Obama Is Handling the Oil Spill

A recent Louisiana poll (Public Policy Polling) shows that

a majority of voters there think George W. Bush did a better job with Katrina than Obama's done dealing with the spill.

50% of voters in the state, even including 31% of Democrats, give Bush higher marks on that question compared to 35% who pick Obama.

Overall only 32% of Louisianans approve of how Obama has handled the spill to 62% who disapprove. 34% of those polled say they approved of how Bush dealt with Katrina to 58% who disapproved.

Of course, some of the commenters on the poll say that it shows people in Louisiana are racist and still others say "southerners are stupid anyway."

Don't you love that? That Beverly Hillbillies, Dukes of Hazzard stereotyping crap? This is one bigotry that's still quite widespread in the US. It's no wonder that "rednecks" are the only ones people can openly make "politically incorrect" statements about anymore.