I never knew that the old trend I ran into during my high-school days (late 1980s) would see much traction: mid-state New Yorkers tend to lag a great deal behind their much more stylish cousins in “The City” (namely, New York City and in particular, Manhattan).

I mean, to put this into perspective from a Manhattanite, there is “the City” (specifically, Manhattan south of 96th St.), the “Bridge and Tunnel” dwellers (BNT’ers: people from the outer boroughs like Queens, Brooklyn, etc.) and then the “rednecks from up north”.

Ed. Note: Up until the 1980s, this was largely true - Rockland and Westchester counties were the bedroom suburbs, and Orange-Putnam-Dutchess and any county north of that were largely farmlands and apple orchards except for a few selected large towns. Until all the yuppies decided that the Lower Hudson River Valley was “the new Hamptons” and started buying up everything in sight, especially during the sub-prime mortgage frenzy… now you can drive three miles without running into a WalMart or a TGIFridays.

Manhattanites were always the cutting edge of fashion, and often we’uns up here snickered at some of the fashion ideas coming up out of the City. Brooklynites, New Jerseyans, and the other BNT’ers would adopt to some degree what the Manhattanites did, albeit with discounted or non-major brands and labels, or waiting a few months for the labels to come down in price.

We up here though, are the Long Tail of Fashion: I mean, people up here (only one hour north of Manhattan) were sporting pegged-leg jeans and stonewashed denim as late as 2000, along with (mostly late 30’s-early 40’s) women with that awful NJ big hair look.

Coming back to the main topic, Popped Collars on polo shirts were kind of cool (along with stonewash denim and pegging the legs of one’s jeans, as well as the “Mandana” - a bandana worn on the head as a hat-kerchief thingy) in the late 1980s.

On rare occasion you might find a rare instance of some guy now in his late 30s or early 40s who does the popped collars with his golfing ensemble at local golf courses, or on college students at nearby SUNY New Paltz, or Pace University down the river. Again, youthful indiscretions are what they are.

And sadly, the widest demographic of polo shirt collar-poppers tends to be younger men with an overinflated sense of self-worth that results in an arrogant demeanor, and a general sense of being posers out for attention. For the sake of my eyesight and general human kindness… please don’t be like this guy:

And yes, he is wearing - count them - FOUR polo shirts - with each collar popped. All he is missing for the complete effect would be the slightly tilted visor or ballcap worn backwards.

Last month, I posted a bit of whiny rant about my dissatisfaction at being mysteriously and stealthily banned from RedState.com.

And now for a bit of a “closure post”, as by not having heard anything from the fine folks at who run that show over there for nearly a month, I figure I’m not likely to get any resolution or restoration of my account.

Initially, I was quite frustrated¹ at being summarily “excommunicated” (as I had enjoyed commenting there) without being informed as to why I got “blammed”, as some moderators might do.

I pondered this a bit, and tried to figure out why some folks had a lot more leeway (as in this guy - “aceintx” - who almost begs to be banned) and others got banhammered very quickly, and then a few like myself who “never knew quite what hit us”. After doing some further digging about, and reading through some of the whinging by other (former?) RedState users who were being “bullied” by the moderators, I’ve come to a conclusion:

Life is Not Fair.™

Ironically, this is the same statement oft-quoted by the regular “in-crowd” at RedState, usually seen after they go into playground-mob mode to dump on some poor schmoe who has made the mistake of getting a bit mouthy (or perhaps just ran amiss) of any of the dozen or so moderators who lurk through nearly every thread… and once the poor schmoe asks “Why are y’all picking on me?” or “How come [username X] gets to talk about [subject Y] and I’m told to keep my muzzle shut?”, or worse, just mouths off and really digs himself a hole… invariably, the answer a moderator or some in-crowd user will shoot back with is:

Life is Not Fair.™

And what makes this even more “unfair”, is the fact that it is not readily apparent to the new user who the moderators or other high-muck-a-mucks of RedState are. (Hint: be content to lurk for several weeks before posting, if you really care to know who to tread carefully around, and learn what the “don’t-go-there” topics are).

But this is pretty much par for the course for any internet community, and RS is by no means the worst “offender” in this regard. On the right, I’ve seen FReepers really savage the few poor schlepps who run amiss of the generally agreed upon culture there - and on the fever swamps of the left like DailyKos or MyDD, righties or lefties who fall short of their party line are quickly and brutally curbstomped into submission or non-existence (in virtual fashion, of course).

And all of this pales by comparison to MMOG gaming fora, which really brings out the kids (both the actual middle-schoolers as well as the creepy 35 year-olders who’ve not quite yet matured out of a middle-school mindset).

Once again, it bears repeating - as every fact is established by the testimony of three witnesses:

Life is Not Fair.™

Perhaps my expectations for RS were a tad higher, and I allowed my generally thick internet skin to be a tad thinner than normal.

Unlike many singly-operated blogs (like mine, where it is fairly obvious who runs the blog) or web forums driven by engines like phpBB or Yahoo!’s yBB (such as the now defunct gaming forum I administered before I started blogging a few years ago), RedState moderators are not easily identified by nifty bolded orange text with the word “Moderator” or Admin” next to their names.

Unless you pay close attention to the manner and tone of how they post (Hint: they are the guys who either own the site like Ben Domenech or Jeff Emanuel, or some of the other folks listed here - which by the way, is a very partial list).

In a somewhat perverse way, this adds to some of the high drama that can unfold at RedState, especially in a contentious primary season such as this, where many opinionated folks come out of the woodwork… and sometimes find themselves mouthing off to another poster whom they do not realize they is a moderator or even one of the owners, such as this exchange between the user perien² and several of the moderators and users which resulted in the one of the owners responding thus:

Your problem is twofold: by Jeff Emanuel

(1) You have no idea who you’re talking to

(2) You’ve confused this place with somewhere you have the “right” to be, and the “freedom” to say whatever you’d like.

Both portend a very, very brief lifespan for you here, even without the waste of bandwidth your diary contributions have been to this point.

I have to admit that I got somewhat ruffled by the sometimes rather arbitrary and even childish behaviour of both some of the “in crowd” and even the moderators when they suddenly “de-cloak” and hammer the offending posters with a tersely-worded warning or even a summary ban.

The bottom line is though… RS *is* a private domain and the owners have the right to limit what gets said and who may speak on their forum (just like my blog is mine to do with as I please within the bounds of law)… and if the owners don’t care to give me the time of day, then so be it.

My only regret is that a community such as RS that chooses to some degree to shut the mouths of those who disagree with The Consensus run the risk of stifling different perspectives, and eventually risks being an echo chamber.

But as has already been said, Life is Not Fair.™, and that is their site and choice to make.

I’ll be back in a bit with Part II, as to how this lesson applies in another, greater sphere.

I can think of nothing more meaningful than this image that popped into my head (it went through several drafts though) to reflect the current slate of frontrunners for this year’s POTUS election:

Click to enlarge

Credit for the final version’s captions go to this FreeRepublic user who made this comparison:

Unfortunately, you’re probably right about McCain, meaning I have to revise my grouping of snakes to a copperhead (McCain), a cottonmouth (Obama),and a rattler (the Witch). McCain’s the copperhead because his bite gives no warning, will be painful and sickening, but probably won’t be lethal. Obama’s the cottonmouth because his bite gives no warning and can be lethal. The Witch is a rattler because she’s given plenty of warning and her bite can be lethal.

Well met, and that is about what we have to pick from this year as we watch the economy circle the drain.

Although I’m not in complete agreement with Young Earth Creationism, nor am I a “materialistic Darwinist-Evolutionist”, I do find paleontological digs that turn up old bones to be of interest.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7264856.stm

This guy was dug up about two years ago in Svalbard (a Norwegian island way up in the Arctic sea). According to the write-up on him, he is estimated to be about 15m (50 feet) long, with perhaps the first 3-4m of it being a mouth filled with some rather frighteningly sharp teeth. The article says he could easily fit a small car and bite in in half.

I’d say that any polar bears stranded on small ice floes or even a Great White Shark would have been fair game for this fellow.

He might be a fitting creature to how the Bible describes the creature “Leviathan”:

Job Chap. 41 (KJV)

41:1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

41:2 Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?

41:3 Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?

41:4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?

41:5 Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?

41:6 Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants?

41:7 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?

41:8 Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.

41:9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?

41:10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before Me?

41:11 Who hath prevented Me, that I should repay him? Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is Mine.

41:12 I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.

41:13 Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle?

41:14 Who can open the doors of his face? His teeth are terrible round about.

41:15 His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. (Seeker’s note: His scales are quite waterproof and pressure-proof, enabling him to dive quite deep)

41:16 One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.

41:17 They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.

41:18 By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. (Seeker’s note: “neesings” means sneezing)

41:19 Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.

41:20 Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron.

41:21 His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth. (Seeker’s note: vv. 19-21 — he probably had a pyrogenic chemical gland of some sort, perhaps?)

41:22 In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.

41:23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.

41:24 His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.

41:25 When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves.

41:26 The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. (Seeker’s note: a habergeon is a chain-mail armour shirt)

41:27 He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. (Seeker’s note: you might be able to survive beating a crocodile over the head with a hammer or spear it through… but not this guy!)

41:28 The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble.

41:29 Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear.

41:30 Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire.

41:31 He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.

41:32 He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary. (Seeker’s note: he leaves a HUGE foamy wake in his path)

41:33 Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.

41:34 He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.

Summary:

This is one tough beast the the Lord has made… and I for one am glad that they aren’t to be found alive today in abundance.

How much more should we fear and hold the Lord in reverence, Who created such an awesome creature!

Not that I enjoy reading MSNBC, but this item grabbed my eye.

It is a funny thing when the (Prime? ) Minister of the Nation of Islam barely stops short of giving the Democratic front-runner Barrack Hussein Obama an acclamation putting him on a par with the Saviour of Mankind.

Could it be a stroke of (unlikely) humility, or more likely, a desire not to be tarred with the brush of race-baiting, anti-Semitism, thuggishness, and racialism (be it of the African Nationalist variety) that so marks Minister Farrakhan’s long career?

Said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton: “Sen. Obama has been clear in his objections to Minister Farrakhan’s past pronouncements and has not solicited the minister’s support.”

Indeed, if Obama is to be our “saviour”, I couldn’t think of anyone more fit to be his prophet than Mr. Farrakhan.

Good luck with that nomination with him on your side… heh.

As far as work goes, I have the very fortunate blessing to be in the civilian employ of an institution that has a two-fold character - the United States Military Academy.

This institution is both an elite university on a par with the Ivy Leagues and the engineering schools of great reputation (such as RPI, CalTech, and MIT) and it is a military post, with the all of the trappings and regimentation that come with it. And of course, it gives great opportunity for many people to meet and hear from men not only of great intelligence or skill, but also men of character.

I had the distinct honor of meeting a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient by the name of Gary Beikirch (however fleetingly, as I and a co-worker met him on his way in, as we were leaving one of the food concessions and heading back to grind out some more code).

He seemed a very cordial man, of curious appearance not only on account of his medal, but also for his handlebar moustache, which with his demeanor gave him a sort of a kind, grandfatherly air. Perhaps it was also the outward working of the Holy Spirit shining through this man as well, as we shall learn that he is became a Christian not long after his wartime experience.

I had opportunity to confirm that the decoration he wore on his neck was in fact, a Congressional Medal of Honor.

Sadly, I did not have much time with which to ask him in detail about his CMOH which he was wearing today, so I had to do some googling to get the details.

Mr. Beikerch received his CMOH as a result of duty in Viet Nam (quoted from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society web site) :

BEIKIRCH, GARY B.

Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces.
Place and date: Kontum Province, Republic of Vietnam, 1 April 1970.
Entered service at: Buffalo, N.Y.
Born: 29 August 1947, Rochester, N.Y.

Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Beikirch, medical aidman, Detachment B-24, Company B, distinguished himself during the defense of Camp Dak Seang. The allied defenders suffered a number of casualties as a result of an intense, devastating attack launched by the enemy from well-concealed positions surrounding the camp. Sgt. Beikirch, with complete disregard for his personal safety, moved unhesitatingly through the withering enemy fire to his fallen comrades, applied first aid to their wounds and assisted them to the medical aid station. When informed that a seriously injured American officer was lying in an exposed position, Sgt. Beikirch ran immediately through the hail of fire. Although he was wounded seriously by fragments from an exploding enemy mortar shell, Sgt. Beikirch carried the officer to a medical aid station. Ignoring his own serious injuries, Sgt. Beikirch left the relative safety of the medical bunker to search for and evacuate other men who had been injured. He was again wounded as he dragged a critically injured Vietnamese soldier to the medical bunker while simultaneously applying mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to sustain his life. Sgt. Beikirch again refused treatment and continued his search for other casualties until he collapsed. Only then did he permit himself to be treated. Sgt. Beikirch’s complete devotion to the welfare of his comrades, at the risk of his life are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Some further looking around turned up this entry on him, from (what I believed to be the book he was carrying - my photographic memory occasionally isn’t as good as I’d like) from the book, “Valor: A Gathering of Eagles” (ISBN 1581691114; Published in 2003 by Evergreen Press) by Jimmie Dean Coy.

It seems that Mr. Beikirch’s experience following his heroic actions in Viet Nam give testimony of a greater hero, who gave His life for our sins - Jesus Christ (from page 22 of Valor: A Gathering of Eagles, )

“I would like to share with you two of the most significant experiences in my life. My experiences in Vietnam taught me many life-changing lessons: How precious life is…how frightening death is…and how important God is to both life and death. After being med-evaced from Vietnam, wounded three times, and spending almost a year in the hospital, I was left with questions that I could not answer, an anger that I could not control, and a guilt that almost destroyed me. What I needed was a second experience.

“Two years after leaving Vietnam, a friend shared with me a simple but powerful message: God loved me… He had forgiven me because His Son, Jesus Christ, died for me, and He wanted His Spirit to become the center of my life. God’s allowing me to wear the Medal of Honor was only to open doors so I could share His love (Jer. 9:23-24; Ps. 49:20). Although this is not Scripture, the following quote had an immediate impact on me as soon as I read it. I first saw it in a Mike Force team house in Pleiku. ‘To really live you must almost die. To those who fight for it… life has a meaning…the protected will never know!’”

To see the rest of Mr. Beikirch’s inspiring testimony, refer to pages 22-27 of the book, or preview at Google Books (click here)

HardBall with Chris Matthews takes an Obama supporter to task on his sycophantic appraisals of Obama’s policies…

… except for one minor item: Chris grills Texas State Senator Kirk Watson (D-Dist. 14) to list “list Barack Obama’s accomplishments as a US senator - now.”

The good senator comes up … speechless and empty.

Hillary Clinton, of course, was faster than a pig to the slopping trough to use this as a zinger on the Big “O”.

UPDATE:

The “stumped chump” (the Texas State senator’s words, not mine) responds, h/t Dan Riehl.

…Actually, this is more of a compilation of guidelines for conducting a proper, manly, man hug - to be done with an appropriate level of masculinity-reinforcing level of hairy-chested manliness, complete with raw oatmeal sans raisins or brown sugar, and most certainly sans crummy-six-dollar-frappaccino from a certain coffee franchise.

I provide this as a public service, so you don’t ever make the mistake of looking like these two pinheads in public:

Sorry guys, but even a presidential endorsement of the *cough cough* presumptive GOP nominee is not grounds enough for this sissy display of affection. You both should have checked in with us (and yes, I’ll use the “imperial/editorial ‘we’ here”) first, before perpetrating this awful display of late middle-aged male ooey-gooey-ness upon our otherwise Victorian sense of decorum.

So without any further ado, here goes:

A Man-Hug may be executed in a time and place appropriate for such a degree of intimate contact that might require something more expressive than the standard “Handshake”; however, it must be executed in a manner that precludes any and all suspicion of evil, such as metrosexuality or general effeminate-ness, also known as “becoming infected with girly-girl-cooties”… Yuck!

A properly applied “Man-Hug” may be exchanged between two consenting males without any suspicion of wrong-doing as follows:

In honor of the general leftward shift of the GOP (for whom many McCainiacs might argue is a shift back toward the moderate “middle”, which reads purpleish-blue to me), I hereby propose the the current GOP mascot “Elbert the Elephant” be retired, and replaced with:

Robbie the RINO.

Don’t worry, despite the rhino’s notoriety for being difficult to get along with, he works very well with donkeys.

So, it looks like the MSM will be happy, as we edge nearer to an Obama-McCain contest:

Both frontrunners have waylaid the Potomac River / Chesapeake Bay corridor states with Hillary and Huckabee being dealt crushing defeats.

I have to wonder how much of it can be attributed to our overzealous media combined with general sheep-like behaviour amongst the party faithful (of the GOP for McCain) or of genuine “Anybody but the Clintons” amongst the Democrats.

I mean, let us took a look at this (commented) screencap from CNN’s “election center” web site:

C’mon CNN… give us a small break, will ye? Calling an election at THREE percent of the polling districts in? It makes me wonder if y’all are really trying to orchestrate people’s minds to vote for McCain (who may prove not to be the paper tiger who is so easily swatted down - time will tell).

Of course, this is CNN - where they have the best election coverage in the nation. You know, the news network with stars like Anderson Cooper who refers to the Confederate Naval Ensign (one of the more common forms of the Confederate Flag seen) as the “Stars and Bars” (about 0:22 on the playhead)

Fox News fares not a stitch better with its continued fawning over the Republican “Kwisatz Haderach” John McCain… who lacks those nifty giant 300′ long worms to ride around into the Capitol to raise a ruction. in fact, I really see nothing that McCain offers aside from his putative interest in keeping the troops fielded and funded.

And then there is Obama - Another factor is Obama’s oratory, which according to Tom Sullivan could be compared to not entirely dissimilar style of oration used by a certain evil Austrian ex-corporal some 70 years ago.

For the record, it probably is politically incorrect (and certain violates Godwin’s Law) to compare Mr. Obama to the likes of a disgraced Austrian ex-corporal. I mean, it’s not like there are roving packs of jackbooted thugs beating up Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats who don’t quite see Mr. Obama as the Second Coming.

I figure sticking to his connections to Islam will be sufficient fodder for the ad-hominem slander machinery (formerly known as the Rove-a-Matic) which will see loads of action as we gear up for the post-primary season.