Head over to the Knoxville News Sentinel website and click the link there. I was mainly curious about three things:
1. How did people hear about the rally and Fred, since he wasn't officially in the race yet?
2. In a crowded field of Republican candidates, what makes Fred Thompson so exciting? Is it just his celebrity, or is there something more?
3. When will Fred Thompson officially announce his candidacy, if ever?
I asked these questions to supporters at the rally, and their answers were very interesting. One thing that really caught my attention was that several people thought that Thompson would make a good president because it wasn't his life's ambition. As one man put it, Fred didn't really want the job, but felt that he was needed. From that perspective, his delay in announcing works to enhance his viability.
I also asked one couple about the fact that Thompson was an actor, and maybe that appearance of power and personal integrity was just that, all appearance and no substance. They responded that they'd read interviews with people who've worked with and for Sen. Thompson, and they almost uniformly say that he really is exactly how he appears, and they were satisfied with that.
I got as many answers to the question "Why are you excited about Fred?" as the people I asked, but there were some common themes. People respond to Fred in a way that most other politicians can only dream about. In fact, I'd be willing to say that Fred Thompson has even more charisma than Bill Clinton, and that's saying a lot. Fred also has a reputation for forthright speech and personal integrity. His supporters believe that if Fred says it, he means it, and will act accordingly. That's a major achievement for any politician in a day when we expect them to lie. Fred Thompson is seen as an embodiement of traditional conservative values, but not in a way that is threatening to moderate conservatives or independents. In this, he's something of a mirror of Giuliani. Rudy polls well even among social conservatives, despite is liberal social views. Thompson polls well among moderates despite his social conservatism. Both men's polling seems to confirm that social issues are not at the forefront of this election, at least on the conservative side of the house.
There's a lot of folks who still aren't that excited by Sen Thompson, but given that in the latest GOP Bloggers Straw Poll, Fred is running an overwhelming first, with just over 53% of the vote, they may be among a rapidly decreasing minority.
I'm going to go ahead and make a prediction: If Fred Thompson declares his candidacy, he will be the Republican nominee, and will win the Presidency in 08.
Things couldn't be much better.
The ventilator is gone, as is the nasal tube. She's awake and sitting up, and is coherent, although little confused about how long it's been since the operation. Her kidneys are fine, her blood pressure is fine, and her lungs are clearing up nicely.
Thanks again for all your prayers and messages of support.
Shaking in their collective boots over Rosie O'Donnell's shocking revelation on The View that fire doesn't melt steel, and never has melted steel,and never will melt steel, the VRWC charged into action to discredit this courageous woman who found the time to learn all about metallurgy while carrying on a busy career in annoying the heck out of people.
Through my investigative journalistic skills, I have discovered that the bridge was pre-wired with explosive squibs over two months ago in preparation for today's collapse. The truck was remote detonated, and then the squibs were set off to weaken the steel support structures.
Well, that's easy for you to say, but can you prove it?
Absolutely. All you need is common sense and two indisputable facts.
Fact number one: The driver survived the explosion. Everybody knows that it would be impossible to survive a fire intense enough to burn down a bridge, so how did he do it? He wasn't there when the explosion occurred! It's the only explanation that makes sense.
Fact number two: (And this is the capper) There is no video footage of the beginning of the fire when they set off the explosive squibs! Nope, none. Not a single frame of video shows the beginning of the fire! It's just like the Pentagon all over again! Jeez, you'd think these guys would learn from their mistakes, but nope, they're just as stupid as they were 6 years ago!
How much more of this are we expected to take?
Due to routinely getting its ass kickedlosing it's time slot to the killer talents of Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and whoever it is that plays the kid on Two and a Half Men, Fox has announced the immediate cancellation of 24, which will be replaced by reruns of Sanjaya crying after he was booted off American Idol.
In other news, FoxNews will also cancel The O'Reilly Factor, since it lost in its time slot to Dancing with the Stars, just like Drive. The factor will be replaced by repeats of Roller Girls.
Finally, Fox will also work to cancel Battlestar Galactica, even though it airs on another network.
I drove over to Cookeville this afternoon to attend a rally for a man who isn't running for President.
Yet.
I estimated the crowd to be just over 200 strong at any given time, but by the end of the day, 250 people had signed a letter urging Sen. Thompson to run for President. I saw a lot of people who didn't get into the line, or who gave up, so I'm guessing that there were at least 350 people there throughout the event, which is a pretty impressive turnout for a guy who isn't even running yet.
One thing that surprised me about the turnout was the age range. There were a lot of younger people there, something conspicuously absent when I was at the Republican campaign headquarters during the last election. If Fred can mobilize the kids, he's going to be hard to stop.
One of the questions I asked people at the rally was why they got so excited about Fred when the field of candidates is already pretty full. The most common answer was that they liked his candor. He has an image as a straight shooter who will say exactly what he thinks, regardless of how it polls. The second most common answer was that they felt he was a true leader, that he had the charisma and personal power to get things done.
I'll have more tomorrow, including some pictures, but it's time for me to get some sleep.
We're talking a major comeback here. Her ventilator was turned off for three hours yesterday evening with no decrease in blood oxygen levels, a major accomplishment considering just a few hours earlier, she could only breathe on her own for 20 minutes. Then when they turned the ventilator back on, they left it at 8 breaths per minute, meaning she was taking every other breath on her own.
Today, they put the ventilator into CPAP mode which means it's functioning just like it would for a sleep apnea patient. This is nearly the last step before removing the breathing tube entirely.
Her blood pressure and kidney output remains strong and she's finally getting rid of the 2.5 gallons of fluid she's been retaining since the surgery.
She may be off the ventilator entirely by tomorrow, or Monday at the latest, barring a set back.
The roller coaster is picking up speed. At 9AM, we were told she would be on the ventilator for a week or two at least. At 12PM, we were told that she is going to be weaned from the ventilator starting today. The did the routine screening for ventilator removal, and she went for 20 minutes breathing on her own. So, they've reduced the drugs that are keeping her unconscious just enough to let her start exercising her lungs. They've turned down the ventilator rate so that every 4th or 5th breath she takes is on her own, which is great. They've taken her off the ARDS protocols since her lungs are functioning fairly well. She's maintaining 98% blood oxygen on 40% O2, which is roughly 2x what we breath in normal air. And the pressure required to kep her alveoli inflated has decreased dramatically, another good sign as far as her lungs are concerned. Her fever is down, and her blood pressure is almost normal.
The latest from her doctor is that he expects her to be off the ventilator by the middle of next week or so, which is excellent. The only bad news, and it isn't really bad, is that she's going to be uncomfortable for a few days since they aren't keeping her so heavily sedated anymore.
She's barely conscious, but she can communicate. Her nurse asked her if she was in pain, and she indicated she was, so they gave her some morphine. When asked a few minutes later if she still felt pain, she just kind of smiled around the breathing tube.
Small steady improvement...every day a little bit better.
Thanks for your prayers; I know they've helped.
The new word is ARDS, or adult respiratory distress syndrome.
It's not a good word, but it has crept into my mom's doctor's vocabulary over the last 24 hours. It means that her lungs are reacting to the surgery by filling up with fluids and stiffening up, making it almost impossible for her to breathe, which is why she went back on the ventilator yesterday. Her doctor isn't sure she's got it, but her symptoms are consistent with it. I looked it up yesterday, and it can get pretty nasty, in fact, as complications from cardiac surgery go, it's right up there among the worst.
She's going to be on the ventilator for a few days, so they've started feeding her through a tube.
On the plus side, it looks like Mom is responding to the treatments they are giving her, so she might not develop full blown ARDS. They've been able to reduce the O2 levels on her ventilator and she's still maintaining good blood O2 levels, which means her lungs are functioning ok. And more good news, they've continued to taper her off the blood pressure medication, which is really good. And her kidney function is up, meeting the goals they've set for her. And her cardiac function is up to 65-70% where before the surgery she was in the low 20s. The best news is that when they dial back the medications to let her wake up a little bit, she's very responsive, so her brain is still in good shape.
On the balance, the possibility of ARDS is the biggest cloud looming over her recovery, but everything else is trending positive. Her doctor told us yesterday that her recovery was going to be long and slow, and that the best we can hope for is continual small improvements along with the occasional set back, and that's exactly what we're seeing right now.
Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. I'll keep updating here whenever we get more news.
Nothing much to say. After she went on the ventilator, things just kind of hung out for awhile. She still needs the Levo to keep her blood pressure up (not good); she's still having trouble getting rid of the excess fluid (not good); she's running a low temp (not good) that's easily controlled with Tylenol (good); her kidneys are back to adequate(good) but just barely (not good), and her heart is getting stronger by the hour (very good.)
It looks now like she'll be on the ventilator for a couple of days at least while they try and clear up the fluid in her lungs. The good news is that the longer she goes without a major setback, the stronger she gets, so right now, no change is actually a good thing.
This morning, I had to take my 17 year old daughter to get her wisdom teeth pulled. I had to sign about 37 consent forms and had to stay there while she recovered. When she got pregnant, I considered myself lucky if I was allowed to stay in the same county with her when she went to the doctor.
The NeeNaw Update (That's what all her grandchildren call her. Plus most of the people who know her. She's everybody's grandmother.) Well, here's what we know so far. She's still retaining fluid, even though they've started her on a tiny dose of diuretic. The fluid retention has started to affect her breathing, so much so that they've had to put her back on a ventilator. The good part is that she's not expending so much energy trying to breathe that she wears herself out. The bad part is she's back on a ventilator, which means heavier sedation, and more Levophed to keep her blood pressure up.
You hear strange things in an ICU waiting room. The phone rang a few minutes ago, and my aunt answered it, expecting the fellow on the other end to ask for one of the families in the room. Instead he asked her to help him find out if he actually had to come in to get a DNR order put on his wife, or if he could just phone it in.
What do you say to something like that?
Most of the news is good. She's alert, and in decent spirits, but is beginning to feel some pain. The medication is still controlling her blood pressure, but they had to increase the dosage last night. The doctor is concerned, but not as worried as he was last night. She's off the ventilator, and her biggest complaint is that she's thirsty, and it's hard to drink water when you have to lay flat on your back.
I'll be here till the 9AM visit, them I'm headed to the house for a shower and some sleep, probably not in that order.
Thanks to everyone who prayed for her last night, and I'll let you know how things go.
UPDATE 9AM: The visit was good, although she seems to be getting tired, They had to increase the dosage of the blood pressure medicine again, and her kidneys aren't up to 100% yet, so there's still room for concern.
UPDATE 6:30PM: The roller coaster continues. Her recovery is still slower than her doctor hoped for,and her blood pressure is still causing troubles. She's on Levophed, which from what I read is basically norepinephrine. It acts to raise blood pressure by expanding cardiac arteries while constricting peripheral veins. I'm a little worried because they've kept raising her dosage to maintain her blood pressure. Last night, they had her down to 5cc/hr, and even had her completely off the medicine for a bit, but she's back up to 40cc/hr now, and it's been climbing steadily all day. Her kidneys are struggling a bit more now, going from "adequate" to "marginal", and the oxygen levels in her blood have slipped as well, so she's got an oxygen mask instead of the little nasal thing.
I've gone from "concerned but not scared", to "worried but not scared."
Ok, I am a little scared.
My mom's heart cath this morning did not go well. Narrowing veins, major arterial blockages and a plugged stent add up to major bypass surgery this afternoon.
UPDATE 2:15:She's off the heart lung bypass machine, and they're closing her up after performing a triple bypass. Everything looks good so far.
UPDATE 3:45:Mom is out of surgery, and we've talked to her doctor. The news is mixed. The triple bypass went well, but the only reason they didn't do a quad was because the last artery is too small. The good news is she has much better blood flow to her heart now. The bad news is that it'll never be back to 100%. She should be awake sometime around 9PM or so, and then off the ventilator an hour or so later. The next two days are the critical period, as far as bleeding, infection, or other complications go.
UPDATE 10:10PM: She's awake and aware, but things aren't looking good. Her blood pressure is staying low, and according to her doctor, her kidney function is dropping off as a result. I'm headed to the hospital for the last visiting hours of the night.
If you pray, now would be a good time.
PS: Thanks for all the good wishes.
First, the attendees:
Glenn
Helen
Tam
Tam's friend (I got there late, so I didn't get his name.)
Djuggler
Cathy
Tommy
Evan (not old enough to blog yet without shorting out the keyboard(toddlers leak from both ends, dontcha know), but it won't be too much longer I'm sure!)
Mark
Lissa
Michael
Me
I was late getting there because I was visiting my mother in the hospital. (You know, that's the first time I've used that excuse and it's been true!) It's serious,but not really scary. She's had a history of heart trouble including two very mild heart attacks, some arterial blockage, and arrhythmia. The arrhythmia eventually became so frequent and severe that she had to have laser ablation, which worked wonderfully. Every now and then, she can feel the precursor to an attack, but her heart never runs away like it used to (300bpm or better). Anyway, she started having some chest pain on Friday, and the nitro didn't help, so she checked in today. Her enzymes are all good, so the doctor doesn't believe it was another heart attack, but suspects some arterial blockage of some sort. She'll have a cath tomorrow and they'll find and fix the problem.
It's simply amazing to me the progress we've made in treating coronary disease.
Anyway,I brought her her laptop, and some stuff from home and then left her with my sister. My mom tried to get my sister to leave as well, but that ain't gonna happen. Deedi is there for the duration.
Anyway,I went on out to Calhoun's and joined the reveling crowd. Cathy has posted pictures, and I'm starting to get paranoid. Pictures of my always come out looking like I've been drinking when I haven't. Maybe I'll look more sober if I take a drink or two.
The gathering was more intimate than the last BlogFest, but still very energetic, with several animated conversations going on at different ends of the table. At one point,I heard Glenn and Tam discussing the proper weaponry for blowing away zombies. I believe they settled on a shotgun, but I'm not sure. Lissa was happy to be there and not studying for a change. Tommy and I talked about video games for a while, while Evan tried to help the wait staff by running the sweeper over the carpet. Not even two years old yet and Cathy has him doing more chores than my 6 kids ever do!
I must be doing something wrong...
I wanted to talk to Dr. Helen about my horrible childhood and the deep scars it left on me, but she bailed on me and went to the other end of the table to talk about zombies and shotguns.
That seems to happen to me a lot these days...
We all talked about the Knoxville schools rezoning plan, which has something in it to irritate just about everybody. Listening to people talk about it makes me happy to be in Sevier County, where if you don't like the school you're zoned for,you are free to put your child in one of the other schools.
I wanted to ask Michael about all the ads I've been hearing on the radio about contract negotiations at the Sentinel, but I figured this was a social occasion, so why talk shop. On the other hand,he was there alone, and he claimed his wife was "out of town" again. You know, every time we have one of these get togethers, she's out of town somewhere.
It's starting to feel like a bad episode of "Murder She Wrote."
We wound it up fairly early tonight, leaving around 9:30 or so. Cathy stopped to take a picture of the rain chains Les was obsessing over earlier in the week, so Les, check 'em out on flikr. It's pretty cool; they look like, well, chains hanging from a gutter.
I was telling Cathy,Doug and Lissa that I'd like to do one of these out at my house sometime this summer. Make it a longer event,and one where the kids can get out in the yard and play. Or more likely, gather in the living room and play on the Wii.
So,how many of you would be willing to make the drive out to Sevier County?
Oh, by the way,Cathy, Evan was fine. The wait staff loved seeing him sweeping the carpet!
Not because everybody else is writing about it, but because I have to.
It's very simple; the man should be taken out and horsewhipped.
I've got a daughter who can drive me up the wall without breaking a sweat, and she's done so several times. I would never leave a message like that for her to find,and she's15, not 11.
If you haven't done so already, listen to the whole thing, not just excerpts. Listen to his voice as his threats escalate.
I don't care how badly he's gotten screwed in the divorce and custody litigation. I don't care what lies Kim has told about him. I don't care how many phone calls he's missed. He has no right to speak to an 11 year old child that way, particularly the way he threatens her at the end of the call. I sure as heck wouldn't let him near her after hearing that.
UPDATE: As Cathy pointed out during the BlogFest, if it turns out that Kim Basinger released this tape, then she also should be horsewhipped.
Ms. Basinger, that is,not Cathy.
I like Cathy.
You are either happy that nobody who crossed Cho's path that morning had a gun, or you are unhappy about it.
I'm unhappy about it.
This is actually scary,folks.
I have a cheapo satellite speaker system for the laptop. As I sit here typing away at a couple of training presentations, I can hear WIVK playing over the speakers. The scary thing is that the speakers aren't plugged in to any tuner.
At all.
The power cord is plugged into the wall, but that's it.
So, if anybody can explain to me how an amplifier and speaker system can demodulate an FM signal without a tuner, I'd appreciate it. Otherwise, I may have to shoot my speakers.
If not, then lay off of the VT students!
It's a current thread running around the blogosphere:
"Why didn't the students fight back? Why didn't they do something instead of just hide and wait to be shot? It would have only taken one or two brave souls to stop the shooter!"
Most of the time, the folks doing the complaining have never faced a loaded gun pointed at them, and I have just one thing to say to them.
SHUT THE HELL UP!!!
I have faced a loaded gun. I've told this story before, but it really applies here, so I'll tell it again. I was working as a night manager for a convenience store when a guy came in. He waited until the only other customer in the store left, then he approached the counter and pulled a gun. It was a small revolver, and he pointed it at me and demanded that I give him the money in the register. As I started to pull out the money, he changed his mind and told me to hand over the drawer. I did, and as he went to pull the money out, he set his gun down on the counter between us.
Now the adolescent hero boy that lives in all of us immediately speaks up.
"Wow! If I were there, I would have grabbed the gun and got the drop on him. And if he even twitched wrong, BANG! I'd a dropped that sucker in his tracks. Yessirree bubba, that's what I'da done."
No you wouldn't have.
I thought about it. The guy was high on something and moving slowly. I would have had a good chance of grabbing the gun and being a hero, and only small chance of missing and winding up dead. Well, let me tell you folks something. When you're looking at a gun, death is there in the room with you,and it's close, and real, and you have a completely different perspective. I believed that if I went for his gun and missed, he would kill me. End of story. Whether that belief was accurate or not is irrelevant; it's what I believed at the time. I figured that my best chance of avoiding that big ugly thing called Death was to cooperate and not give this guy any grief. After all, why would he want to kill me? I'd never done anything to him.
So I stood there until he finished taking the money, and picked up his gun again. As he walked out of the store, he paused and looked at me. I held perfectly still, feeling completely helpless. In my mind, he was deciding whether or not to kill me. At that point, I was wishing I had tried for his gun, but that chance had already gone.
Fortunately for me, so was he. He left without shooting me, and I quit shortly thereafter.
I was the same age as the students at VT
Folks, we're all indoctrinated from an early age that when the fight or flight reflex is triggered, flight is the better option. Why else to you think the military takes 8-12 weeks training a soldier to fight? You can learn to shoot a gun a lot faster than that! It's because the first thing they have to do is break that conditioning, and it takes awhile. The VT students did what they've been told to do when confronted with violence. Run away, or hide.
In many instances, that might be the right answer, but not in Blacksburg, and not the night I got robbed. In my case, I got off without paying a high price; the students in the classrooms weren't so lucky.
The bottom line is this; if you've never has a gun pulled on you, then you have no business talking about what those folks should have done, or what you would have done if you were there. So kindly keep your mouth closed about it.
There's an interesting discussion going on at Dr. Helen's. But isn't there always?
In my opinion, if we have mentally unstable students who have made threats, have behavioral problems, etc. in universities and schools who do not hold themselves or the student accountable for their behavior, there is no other alternative than to extend the civil right to concealed carry to the potential innocent staff and students who may encounter the wrath of such a person. If universities and schools won't take responsibility -- and they won't -- then someone has to.
From the comments section, mindsteps has this to say:
Based upon this horrible, tragic, and very rare event, you are calling for all colleges and universities to loosen up their gun controls and invite students and staff to bring firearms on campus. Instead of encouraging our country to develop, at the local, state, and national level a greater understanding of the mental, physical, social, cultural, and economic issues that may be in play and developing and strengthening an infrastructure for early identification, prevention, and intervention you are emphasizing the need to arm our campuses.
Dr. Helen's point is clear. Right now, society in general, and schools and universities in specific are either unable or unwilling to take the steps necessary to protect their students from potential walking time bombs. Mindsteps believes that we should look for ways to intervene before the tragedy occurs. This is a noble sentiment, but it assumes that our schools and universities aren't intervening because of ignorance or apathy, and that just doesn't ring true to me. There is another factor at play here, and it's one that's very hard to bypass. Not everyone who exhibits the behaviors listed in Dr. Helen's post goes on a shooting spree.
I didn't.
From 2nd grade on through college, I could have been Cho. I was the kid everyone bullied and made fun of all throughout grade school. At home, I lived with an alcoholic father, who loved us with every breath in his body, while abusing us physically and emotionally, and worse. I was a loner, with discipline problems in school. I lived in a world of fear, pain, and anger and escaped into a world of fantasy and science fiction. I would walk out of class as soon as the teacher's back was turned and head to the library. For whatever reason, the librarian would let me stay and read for a couple of hours before she would get the principal, Sister Mary Bernadella, to bring me back to class. I never got into trouble for these excursions, and in my youthful arrogance (which has since changed into a mature arrogance) I never questioned why. Much later in life, I found out that a psych student who came to observe our school for his dissertation, had recommended to the school that I be given counseling and therapy. Obviously, my dad wasn't about to let that happen.
When I went to high school, I made a conscious decision to change everything. I wasn't going to be that kid anymore. I wasn't going to live in that world anymore. I even got a date for the first dance of the year.
After the dance,she wouldn't go out with me again.
I can honestly say that as hurt and angry and frustrated as I was at that moment, the thought of killing anyone, including myself, never even entered my mind as a consideration. I went through another major bout of depression in college, again, triggered by rejection, and again, exhibited all the signs Dr. Helen lists. Again, the thought of killing somebody never crossed my mind, though I wouldn't be surprised if some of the people who knew me back then had concerns.
Eventually, I did go through counseling to deal with these issues. Up until that point, I was arrogant enough to believe that my childhood had no effect on me, that I was strong enough to get through it unscathed. That lie finally collapsed, taking my marriage with it, but I came out on the other side with a much better knowledge of myself.
I'm sharing all of this stuff with you for one reason, to show you that while I looked exactly like Cho, I wasn't Cho, and while I certainly needed help to deal with the issues troubling me, an involuntary committal would not have done it. And that's really what Mindsteps is talking about, involuntary committal and therapy. Think about the incredible invasion of privacy that represents. Think about how many people like me there are out there and how few like Cho there are. How do you tell the difference between someone who is miserable,and someone who is a threat? Yeah, the warning signs are there, but they are there in a lot of cases where a massacre never occurs. Do we have the right to forcibly intervene in somebody's life just because they might go berserk?
Would you arrest a man for murder because you think he might commit one?
Say he fits a profile that makes him 10 times as likely to commit a murder than the average man. Do you arrest him? What about 100 times? Or 1000 times? How about 10,000 times? Let's go with that. Let's say you have a psychological profile that can select a group of men that are 10,000 times more likely to commit a murder than the average man. Then let's say that we lock these men up in psychiatric institutions to treat them, against their will. Homicide statistics tell us that for every 100 men you lock up, only 3 would have committed a murder.
You just violated the rights of 97 men to stop 3 murderers. The ACLU would probably like to have a word with you.
That's the reality that schools, universities, and police are dealing with. That's why they can't take extraordinary actions without basis. It's not that they don't care, or they don't see the problem. It's that the diagnostic tools to tell who is going to go off when simply do not exist.
So, getting back to the discussion between Dr. Helen and Mindsteps, it is clear that Dr. Helen is right in suggesting that schools are not going to be able to react to a threat before it materializes. Their choice then is clear. Either schools will have to beef up their security forces to a level capable of dealing with the next Cho, or they will have to allow their students and faculty the ability to protect themselves as they see fit.
As a libertarian, I'm on the side of allowing a citizen to take charge of his own security.
Instapundit notes Hillary's fall in the polls over the last couple of months and wonders why, since she really hasn't done anything to cause it. Based on her unfavorable ratings, which are scary high, I think it's simply the fact that even liberals don't like her much. But up until the Obama Ascension (Sorry, I've been reading Ludlum lately) Democrats really didn't have many other choices for viable presidential candidates. Now that they do, Hillary's negatives loom much larger in the minds of Democratic voters.
Remember folks, we are going to have a BlogFest this Saturday. Given the circumstances, I think it's appropriate to postpone the Laser Quest portion of the festivities, and just meet up at Calhoun's at 6. I look forward to another fun evening, and I will call Calhoun's and see about getting the upstairs area.
Once again:
WHAT: BlogFest
WHEN: 6PM Saturday, April 21. We'll be there for a long while, so if you can't get there early, come anyway.
WHERE: Calhoun's at Pellissippi Pike
WHY: Good food, fun people, and exciting conversation, or a reasonable facsimile thereof.
WHO: EVERYBODY!!!!!!AND THEIR KIDS!!!!!and your little dog ToTo too! Yes, even you and you!
T+68:00:00 It is three days after the High School Slaughter. No group has publicly taken credit for the act, although Muslim leaders in Syria, Iran, and Palestine have issued statements deploring the loss of life, but also stating that America is finally paying the price for her transgressions against the peaceful religion of Islam.
Schools have been shut down while the DHS tries to figure out how to make them safe while following the administration's guidelines restricting racial profiling, wire tapping, interception of banking information, as well as revived restrictions on human intelligence activities.
Meanwhile, rested, re-manned, and re-armed, the assault teams are ready to carry out their next assignment. Once again at full strength of 120 men, the 20 teams travel a short distance to their next target. Again, the choice of targets is biased towards suburban and rural areas, where DHS and other federal protection agencies maintain a minimal presence. Even in these areas, security is elevated, so the teams travel separately and will arrive at their assigned targets from different directions. There will be no contact between the assault team members until they arrive at their targets, nor will they have any contact with their safe houses.
T+72:55:00 The teams have reached the targets and are getting into position. Each man carries a single, pay as you go cell phone, awaiting a text message. That message will launch the assault.
T+72:58:00 The text message comes. The assault begins in 2 minutes. The teams turn off the phones and pull the batteries. They ready their weapons.
T+73:00:00 A car pulls up to the front entrance of a mall. A man steps out of the back seat, holding a short metal tube over his shoulder. He sights, pulls the trigger, and a rocket slams through the glass entryway into the mall, where it detonates in a Spencer's Boutique. A second rocket follows to add to the carnage. The man steps back into the car which peals out and moves away rapidly through the parking lot. As it goes, the two men inside randomly throw grenades and molotov cocktails at cars and pedestrians in the parking lot.
T+73:01:00 Mall Security calls 911 and alerts the police of the situation. Details are sketchy, but there's enough information to call out the big boys. The police roll immediately for the mall entrance.
T+73:02;00 The three remaining members of the team drive their cars into the mall building, each going through a different entrance. They drive in approximately 50 feet, then stop the cars and get out.
T+73:03:00 The assault team begins spraying the area with machine gun fire, targeting any Mall security first, than going after civilians. They advance into the mall, lobbing grenages and explosives into stores as they go.
T+73:05:00 The last remaining car, the one that fired the rockets, also crashes into the mall, blocking another exit. The two men inside begin to advance into the mall, firing as they go.
T+73:07:00 The first police units arrive on scene. They see the devastation in the parking lot, as well as the damaged entrances and realize that there is more than one attacker. They establish a command post and call for backup before going in.
T+73:08:30 As the police enter the mall, the car bombs detonate. The mall entrances collapse. The police don't make it.
T+73:10:00 Reinforcements arrive, but the commander on the scene holds them out. They simply aren't prepared to go into any situation like this. Policement are detailed to help survivors who are trickling out back entrances and service ways.
T+73:12:00 The carnage inside continues. The assault team meets up at the food court. The area is packed with survivors who have been herded here by the efforts of the assault team. The 5 team members fire their weapons into the mass of people until they run out of ammo.
T+73:13:00 From the command post, SWAT is ready to deploy. The SWAT team members are standing by to enter the building in force. Their plan isn't complete, but the constant rattle of automatic weapons fire urges them on, before it's too late. There's a pause, then the police hear 5 loud explosions, then a deathly silence. It's already too late.
T+73:15:00 15 minutes from the first rocket, it's over. SWAT enters the building to find horribly few survivors. The terrorist team is vaporized by their explosive vests.
20 attacks, launched virtually simultaneously, lasting only 15 minutes. Death toll 18,000. Wounded , almost twice as many. The two attacks taken together total close to 30,000 Americans killed over 3 days and there's nobody left to prosecute. And again, no nukes, no WMD needed, just guns, grenades, and car bombs.
Why am I writing this scary stuff? Am I sick or something?
No, but I want to scare the crap out of you. I want you to see the nature of what we are up against. If the terrorists come here again, it won't be another 9/11. It will be much much worse. Ask an Israeli who lives with Palestinian terror every day. Ask anyone from either side in Ireland. Read the two scenarios I've posted and ask yourself "Is there any way conventional law enforcement can deal with them?" Ask your buddy on the police force or in the fire department. Ask them if they can do anything to stop something like this once it starts. Ask him about my predicted police response times, but be ready to get really depressed when they tell you how optimistic I am being. Ask them if they have the resources to stop an attack plan like the ones I've written. And when they tell you they don't, ask them how much it would cost for them to be able to stop something like this. The cost doesn't just run in dollars; it runs in lost freedoms.
So what can we do? How do we keep the nightmare from becoming a grim reality? We know the answers; we just don't like them. We do it with surveillance. And espionage. And pre-emptive strikes. We draw the enemy out of the darkness and we kill him. We do all of the things we've been trying to do since 9/11. We take the fight to the enemy and fight him on his ground. We don't let him bring the fight here.
I'll say it again. If a messed up man can kill 31 people armed only with two small caliber pistols, just think what a small number of motivated, trained professionals could do.
Then come talk to me about illegal wiretaps and money transfers.
(And you'd better pay attention, because if I've figured this out, you can bet that somebody else has as well.)
T-00:05:00 The assault team leader makes his final equipment checks. The three other members of his cell are doing the same. He wonders how the other teams are faring, and how many of them will succeed today. OpSec doesn't allow him to know how many other teams there are, or where they will strike, but from loose talk in the training camps, he knows there are other teams like his, scattered throughout the country, working just as he was to blend in, build trust, and prepare.
T-00:04:00 The final checks are completed. The team marks their readiness with a silent prayer, then leaves the house. The four men get into their minivan and head towards the target. Ever since he downloaded the activation command 12 hours ago, the leader has been in an almost dreamlike state. Everything seems too real, too vibrant. Sounds are crisper, colors are brighter. He feels truly alive for the first time since entering this country. No more hiding; today he can achieve glory for his god and his people.
T-00:02:00 The minivan approaches the target, a middle class high school in a suburban location. The target was chosen from a list of area schools based on location, distance from emergency services, multiple escape routes, and lack of security, although the latter turned out to be a minor factor. Armed security was virtually non existent at all of the targets, usually consisting of one or two police officers, usually approaching retirement, sent to the schools to deal with troublesome teenagers. They provided almost no obstacle to a trained and motivated team like the one nearing the school.
T-00:01:00 The driver parked the minivan in the drop-off circle for ease of escape, and the four men exited with no conversation. Dressed like everyone else, they looked like a family group, coming to school for an activity. An alert observer might have noticed that the weather was a bit warm for the jackets they were wearing, but it was springtime, and the weather could change quickly around here, a factor the team was counting on. They moved unhurriedly towards the school entrance, noting that the parking space reserved for the security officer was empty, just as they had expected.
T-00:00:30 The four men entered the school through the front doors. It was in the middle of lunchtime, and since the lunchroom was right off of the main entrance, the area was packed with students. The men made their way through the milling students towards the office area.
T-00:00:10 The leader entered the office while the other members of his team took their positions just outside the door.
T 00:00:00 As the leader pulled the silenced pistol from his jacket, shooting the receptionist, the intercom, and the phone switchboard before beginning to target students, the three men outside pulled a grenade from underneath their jackets and threw them down each hallway and into the lunchroom.
T+00:00:10 The grenades exploded in dense clusters of students, sending blood and body parts everywhere. The chaos was immediate as students tried to escape the carnage. The three men pulled machine pistols from their jackets and opened fire. The leader left the office and joined his team; there was no-one left alive in the office to call in the emergency.
T+00:00:30 The four men broke up into two teams and worked their way down opposing hallways, shooting anyone who presented a target. As they came to a classroom, just as they'd practiced, one man opened the door, while his partner tossed in a grenade. As their research had told them, the students were trained to hide under their desks in their classrooms, making them perfect, unresisting targets. They moved quickly from classroom to classroom.
T+00:02:00 Each man carried a total of 8 grenades. At the two minute mark, they had blown up 10 classrooms filled with teachers and students, the office, the cafeteria, and the assembly hall. Out of grenades, all four men switched to their guns to complete the mission.
T+00:02:30 Moving back down the hallways towards the front entrance, they encountered their first and only resistance. A group of football players attacked one of the gunmen from behind and dragged him down. He triggered his vest and ended the threat.
T+00:02:45 911 receives their first calls from student cell phones detailing the attacks.
T+00:03:00 The three remaining members reached the front entrance. The attack had come so quickly and suddenly that it was still quiet and peaceful outside the school. Smoke was just beginning to rise from the fires they had started, but it was probable that emergency services hadn't even been notified yet, although that would change shortly in this age of cell phones.
T+00:3:15 The leader and his men got back into the minivan and left the school. Behind them, students were starting to climb out of windows, disobeying the teachers who were still trying to get them to follow the approved plan of hiding in the classroom. The team left the area calmly, and vanished into the spring afternoon.
T+00:05:00 The first police cars arrive on the scene. They begin helping the wounded.
T+00:05:45 The first ambulances and fire trucks arrive.
T+00:15:00 The first news reports go out. The police chiefs says only that there has been a "disturbance" at the high school.
T+00:18:00 Members of the press, listening to police scanners, determine that there is more than a "disturbance", and begin live coverage of the massacre. City officials immediately deny any evidence of terrorism.
T+00:20:00 The police issue an APB on a brown SUV, based on a report from one of the school groundskeepers.
T+00:20:15 The assault team, listening in on their scanner in their blue minivan, share a laugh.
T+00:25:00 The scene commander calls for more ambulances and body bags. The metro area diverts all resources to the high school. It isn't enough.
T+00:30:00 The national news picks up the story,except they have the location wrong. The local station calls the national bureau to tell them that not only did they get the name of the school wrong, they put it in the wrong state!
T+00:32:00 The national news bureau chief verifies the information,and realizes that there is more than one massacre and vomits on his desk as he realizes what is happening.
T+00:35:00 The first casualty estimates are out. 5 dead, 30 wounded.
T+00:45:00 The national news reports at least 15 schools were hit simultaneously. Nobody is denying terrorist links anymore.
T+00:55:00 The casualty estimate from our school has increased. 50-60 dead, 200 or more wounded. Casualty estimates from other schools are beginning to trickle in, but everybody involved in the rescue knows it will be much much worse.
T+01:00:00 The assault teams reach their respective safe houses, where they split up, taking different cars. They move along predetermined paths, going to ground in homes of those sympathetic to their cause. Out of 25 teams totaling 120 men, 85 have escaped, and none have been captured. All 35 suicided.
T+2 days. The final numbers are staggering. In our school, 287 students and faculty dead, another 652 wounded out of a total student population of 1200. Nationwide, 25 schools were hit, 15 high schools, and 10 elementary or middle schools. Total dead, just over 8,000. Wounded just under 20,000.
1 hour. 120 men. No nukes, bio-weapons or chemical agents, just a few hundred grenades and a few thousand rounds of ammunition and our world is changed forever.
And there are no local measures we can take to stop it. Heck, we can't stop a pissed off 9th grader from shooting up his school, how are we going to stop a trained professional assault squad? Look at the above scenario and see what you could devise to stop it that wouldn't require several army regiments to implement.
You can't do it, folks. The only way to stop something like this is to never let it get started in the first place. And that means listening in on phone conversations. It means wire tapping. It means tracking money. It means securing our borders. It means doing all those things that so many people have been crying about ever since 9/11.
You can call me an alarmist if you want, but every time I see a stupid kid who got his heart broken because his girlfriend dumped him walk into a school and kill a few dozen people, it scares the crap out of me because I know what will happen if a band of motivated professionals do the same thing.
It won't be a few dozen dead kids; it will be a few hundred. Or worse.
In my never ending quest to keep up with the cool kids, I am going to start writing posts for the Knoxville Tennessee Blog. It seems like everybody writes for more than one blog now, so who am I to hold back and resist the trend? Besides, it gives me a chance to use Word Press and see if it is really that much better than Movable Type.
One thing I'm going to avoid if at all possible is cross posting between the two. Cross linking, however, is a certainty. If I write something there, I may link it here if I think a more general audience will appreciate it. But when I write there, I'm going to keep things much more local, so I don't know how often that will happen.
Lyrics for the Oscar winning song It's hard out Here for a Pimp
[Chorus 2X: Shug - singing] + (Djay)
You know it's hard out here for a pimp (you ain't knowin)
When he tryin to get this money for the rent (you ain't knowin)
For the Cadillacs and gas money spent (you ain't knowin)
[1] Because a whole lot of bitches talkin shit (you ain't knowin)
[2] Will have a whole lot of bitches talkin shit (you ain't knowin)
[Djay]
In my eyes I done seen some crazy thangs in the streets
Gotta couple hoes workin on the changes for me
But I gotta keep my game tight like Kobe on game night
Like takin from a ho don't know no better, I know that ain't right
Done seen people killed, done seen people deal
Done seen people live in poverty with no meals
It's fucked up where I live, but that's just how it is
It might be new to you, but it's been like this for years
It's blood sweat and tears when it come down to this shit
I'm tryin to get rich 'fore I leave up out this bitch
I'm tryin to have thangs but it's hard fo' a pimp
But I'm prayin and I'm hopin to God I don't slip, yeah
[Chorus]
[Djay]
Man it seems like I'm duckin dodgin bullets everyday
Niggaz hatin on me cause I got, hoes on the tray
But I gotta stay paid, gotta stay above water
Couldn't keep up with my hoes, that's when shit got harder
North Memphis where I'm from, I'm 7th Street bound
Where niggaz all the time end up lost and never found
Man these girls think we prove thangs, leave a big head
They come hopin every night, they don't end up bein dead
Wait I got a snow bunny, and a black girl too
You pay the right price and they'll both do you
That's the way the game goes, gotta keep it strictly pimpin
Gotta have my hustle tight, makin change off these women, yeah
[Chorus]
Remark that got Imus fired:
"...nappy headed hos..."
Maybe Imus thought he'd win a Pulitzer?
All this over a silly poll?
Let's recap. SayUncle saw a slow news day thing happening at KnoxViews, so he constructed a quick poll about lame Superheroes and posted it to his KnoxViews blog. What he didn't know was that Randy Neal, proprietor of KnoxViews, had spent hours and hours researching and writing a complex post on cable television legislation, and had posted mere moments before Uncle's poll was posted. The result was that Uncle's poll pushed Randy's post 'below the fold' as it were, and it couldn't be seen unless you scrolled down.
This simply wouldn't do, so Randy pulled Uncle's poll and made it a sidebar item. After all, scrolling is an esoteric and rarely used operation in internet browsing, and Randy wanted to make sure his post would be seen by everybody.
It was just that good.
Uncle took offense to having his post pulled, and made an issue of it, even though it was clearly still visible on the front page, and according to Randy, was still generating more buzz than Randy's cable post.
Which probably didn't help matters.
The discussion became heated, and as a result, Randy, as is his wont, redesigned his site to, I guess the word would be refine the front page content. He created a "Trusted User" category and restricted content creation to those who he felt would post in keeping with a liberal democratic point of view, while restricting differing viewpoints to commenting only.
Here's where it gets interesting.
I've been a member of KnoxViews since shortly after its inception. I rarely post, since Randy specified that it was a progressive community. In fact, the vast majority of my posts have been about BlogFests, where I encourage East Tennessee bloggers of all political persuasions to come together and enjoy good food and lively conversation. Apparently, encouraging an atmosphere of civil discourse, and humanizing the blogosphere is not in keeping with 'progressive' ideology, because I was stripped of the ability to create content at Knox Views.
And I didn't even vote in Uncle's poll!
So, recognizing that it's time for all good bloggers to get together and remind ourselves that there are actual human beings behind the pixels, and that most of them are pretty nice people, it's time for another BlogFest.
We had the last one out west, and got a pretty good turnout, so I'm proposing that we do that again, only this time, I'm going with Barry's suggestion. We appear to have some issues with buried aggression surfacing, and in order to work them out, without resorting to physical violence or flame wars, I think we should meet at Laser Quest in Knoxville, for some all out warfare, followed by dinner at Calhoun's.
Here's the plan:
WHEN: Saturday,April 21
WHERE: Laser Quest
WHEN: 3PM
Followed by Dinner at Calhoun's in West Knoxville at 6PM
If you want to skip the Laser Quest, no problem; show up for dinner. We're not picky. I will need a head count though so I can let both businesses know how many people will be coming. I'm going to try and reserve the upstairs area at Calhounss so we won't be in people's way again. Reply in comments here or send me an email.
By the way, if you are reading this, and have posting privileges at KnoxViews, create an event over there so they will know about it. I may not be welcome in their sandbox, but they are all still welcome in mine. For those of you in East Knoxville or downtown, I can pick you up on my way through.
See you there!
I'll write what I want to write.
You read what you want to read.
Any questions?
Jon is about to become a proud papa of an infant for the first time and has asked for experienced dads to let him know what he needs to have in order to take care of the baby. Since I was a single dad for a couple of months just after my daughter Erinne was born, I figured I'd do my part to help.
I prefer the slings that face the baby towards you; especially when they get old enough to make eye contact. Once they get a little bit older, say 6 months, and want to start exploring their world, an outward facing model may be best.
And do the dishes while you're at it.
Apparently, Mr. Kleinheider wants to have it both ways.
Wasn't it just last week that he was saying that Fred wasn't going to run because it was too late, the early candidates had already locked up the money?
He seems to be singing a different song today. I wonder what changed?
Reading his full post, he makes it clear that it doesn't matter how late Fred enters, because it's already too late. Except he's no longer so sure that it's too late:
That is how Thompson enters. Not in two weeks, not in June, but in late August. From there it will be a dead four month and change sprint to New Hampshire.
More than enough time to for a media celebrity with insider connections to mount a successful campaign.
A successful campaign? Does this mean the contrarian has finally realized that it isn't just sycophants and boosters who want Fred to run, but a large number of conservatives who are clearly dissatisfied with the current field of candidates?
Regular posting will resume as soon as my irregular life allows. In the meantime, I'll do what I can to keep you amused.
If I recall correctly, Rush Limbaugh was fired from ESPN for suggesting that the media had an agenda in pumping up Donovan McNabb's career. Those suggestions were called racist. Yet Don Imus refers to elite scholar-athletes as "nappy headed ho's" and only faces a two week suspension. (Oddly, I can't find anything anywhere that suggests whether the suspension is paid or not. The omission makes me curious; is this a true suspension or a paid vacation to allow things to cool off?)
Am I being forward in suggesting that the two men's political leanings are the reason for the disparity in their punishments?
I don't think so.
8 out of 10
When I was stationed in Orlando going through Nuclear Power School, just off base there was a drive in, called the Colonial I think, that used to show triple features every weekend. Three movies, one B-grade and two D or worse grade movies (Anyone see Star Crash, starring David Hasselhoff, mercifully hiding his face in a gold mask for 90% of the movie? I have. ), all for $8 a carload. At the time, I was driving a 1970 Cadillac DeVille convertible, and we would load up 4 couples and spend the evening at the movies. $8 to get in, and $20 or so for concessions made for a very inexpensive evening out, which worked out well for us, since we sure weren't getting paid much during training. I remember one particular evening, the three movies all featured the same scene, and I don't mean that they were written similarly, I mean the exact same footage was used in all three movies. We were surprised when we saw the scene the second time, in a completely different movie, but not as surprised as when it came up a third time.
Then again, we only paid $8 for three movies.
You also have to remember that when you went to a drive in, you didn't always see much of the movie. Drive ins were social places, where you went to see and be seen, or not seen for the lucky ones who actually had dates. (Don't worry, I'll get to Grindhouse in a minute. Just setting the stage, so to speak.) Movies tailored for the drive-in/grindhouse crowd had to be short on plot and long on action so distracted viewers could pick up the threads of the story whenever an explosion or particularly gruesome mutilation interrupted their, err, social activities.
When I was stationed in Great Lakes for boot camp and 'A' School, a bunch of us would take the train in to Chicago on the weekends, and hang out downtown, checking things out. One particular evening, we went to see a movie and saw Avenging Angel. (Law student by day, hooker by night.) The theater was somewhere near downtown, and was the first and only true grindhouse I'd ever been in. The crowd was in to the movie in a big way, yelling at the screen, talking to the characters, and swallowing the most unbelievable plot contrivances because it was fun. Nobody cared if it made sense or not.
Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino have brought that sensibility back to the movies with Grindhouse, a big, dumb, loud movie with no socially redeeming graces, and it is about time somebody did it! For anyone who has missed the $30 million dollar marketing blitz from the Weinstein brothers, Grindhouse is an homage to those cheaply produced drive in movies of the 70s and 80s where production values and plot continuity were considered secondary to explosions, blood, gore, and of course, bare breasts. They're the kind of movies Joe Bob Briggs would love, and in Grindhouse, we get two of them crammed into just over three hours of entertainment, along with some phony trailers of movies that are just begging to be made.
The first and best of the two features is Planet Terror, an over the top zombie flick that manages to include nearly every B-movie cliche from the hero loner with the secret past to the psychotic doctor to the stripper, pardon me, go go dancer, with the heart of gold.
Oh yeah, and some damn good barbecue.
The second feature, Death Proof, about a psycho stuntman who kills pretty ladies with his car, isn't quite as good, and tends to drag in spots. For a splatter flick, there's an awful lot of scenes of people sitting around and talking. I have a feeling Tarantino did this on purpose though, because B movies often had to pad the movie to get to an acceptable length for the distributer and it's a heck of a lot cheaper to film dialog than action sequences. If a movie was running short on time, and the budget was gone, the director could write a talky scene or two to get to the magic 90 minutes or so.
Both films are artificially aged, with scratches, smudges, and so on, which can be distracting for the new viewer who isn't used to how bad old movie theaters used to be. I have a feeling this may be off putting for many audiences, and I'm certain it will negatively impact DVD sales. After all, who wants to buy a crappy looking movie after spending a couple of grand on an HDTV? It's the visual equivalent of playing a vinyl LP to an audience who've only heard CDs.
I haven't said much about the plots, mainly because there's not that much to say. Movies like this aren't about plot, or character, or CGI effects, or anything like what we've become used to seeing. Instead, they are about provoking a visceral reaction in the audience. I'm not talking about an emotional reaction, but almost a pre-emotional reaction. We're not invested in the characters; they barely exist except as a vehicle for mayhem and maulings. In most movies, this would be a flaw; in these movies, it's a feature. We're not rooting for the humans to win out over the sickos because the humans are the good guys, we just want to see a pretty lady with a gun for a leg lay waste to the zombie horde.
If you go into Grindouse with the attitude that you're going to see a triple feature at a drive in, you'll have a blast. If you're looking for Pulp Fiction, or Sin City, you'll hate it.
I liked it.