Equilibrium

I don't think much about the so-called 'birther' movement -- who claim President Obama is illegitimately elected because he wasn't really born in the U.S. -- but I also can't for the life of me understand why the president doesn't simply instruct the State of Hawaii to publish his original birth certificate. Does he think this continued foolishness somehow weakens political opponents? Not serious ones, I'd say!

On the other hand, even without validating the nut-jobs' argument, why IS it so unreasonable to require presidential candidates to submit a birth certificate with their candidacy, since I have to submit one to get a passport? Some bureaucrat somewhere apparently doesn't think I'm a citizen, either, unless I provide evidence. Should it be easier to become a presidential candidate (which, by the way, almost requires SOME foreign travel!) than to become a common, international traveler?

Skippy wants to teach, but won't learn

According to AP, Hah-vad professor Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. wants his recent run-in with law enforcement to be a lesson to us all about racial profiling:

"I am pleased that (President Obama), too, is eager to use my experience as a teaching moment, and if meeting Sergeant Crowley for a beer with the president will further that end, then I would be happy to oblige."

Now, if only he realized he's to be the student, as HE was the one doing the racial profiling!..

Bourbon: Older is better!

I'm sipping some bourbon tonight, as I am wont to do.

When I mix, as is often the case these days, I mix rye-flavored bourbon and straight rye with (diet) ginger ale, and wheat-flavored bourbon with (diet) cola. But, I often sip my whiskey "neat" -- no ice, nada, nothing but a glass -- before blending.

I opened from my 'bunker' a bottle of Old Heaven Hill Bottled In Bond (BIB) from (via bottle markings and strip-stamp seal) circa 1984 two nights ago. It is fabulous. So much so, that I am hesitant to mix it with ginger ale. So, today I went and bought some more modern OHHBIB (bottled c. 2004). Thus, these are the same whiskey, 20 years apart. Before mixing the latter bottle tonight, of course, I tasted it neat. Two things stood out:

• 1) Heaven Hill does a remarkable job of straight-lining their taste profile over decades. This is obviously the same whiskey;
• 2) the older bottle, almost certainly barreled at a lower proof (in c. 1980) than the modern bottle (barreled approx. 2000), has a richer, more refined finish. It is marginally better whiskey, though both are perfect for the way in which I use them -- as mixer.

Thus, confirmed again a thesis I have argued during my several years of bourbon appreciation: if a specific brand spans a significant number of years till today, older versions of it are better.

There are a multitude of exceptional-quality, and exceptional-value bourbons today -- my friend Chuck Cowdery, who literally wrote the book on bourbon ("Bourbon, Straight"), would claim today is bourbon's 'golden age' -- but bourbons which have a pedigree spanning, say, decades, were better before than they are now.

The good news is that they ain't bad now!

Rushed and ugly

NRO's Rich Lowry debates himself about whether or not it would be better for critics if the House of Representatives passes a health-care bill before their August recess, or not.

Pass a bill, I argue. To use one of Lowry's phrases, the passage of the particular form of health-care 'reform' that essentially is health-care overhaul that Democrats propose, they must do it "rushed and ugly" -- like the stimulus. If folks have a chance to learn what's in it, they will overwhelmingly reject it. The failure of the stimulus -- passed under similar circumstances to little avail, so far -- has made the public wary of such shenanigans. Still, it's the Dems' only hope...

New school year started

Sorry about the slow posting, but a new school year began this week -- if only for teachers -- and I've been swamped trying to both keep up with the new house and getting ready for a new classroom.

Hoping (not promising, though!) to do better...

Time Passes

When I was a kid in the '60s, the World War I veterans headed up almost every parade in my hometown. It awed me that they were honoring their service from as many as 50 years before! Of course, today even World War II veterans (which includes my late father) are even farther removed from their service.

It is almost incomprehensible, then, that a handful of WWI veterans remain alive -- though one less, with the passing of the world's oldest resident last week, Henry Allingham, in England:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090718/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_obit_oldest_man

There remains just a single American WWI veteran, Frank Buckles, who lied about his age to enlist in 1917. At 108, he lives today in Charlestown, W. Va.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Buckles

Send me to the moon

I was 12 years old when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon the day before my Mom's 44th birthday in 1969. Joe Dendel had spend the night before at my house, and we watched the telecast together on our black-and-white television.

I had caught Holy Hell from my older brother, Tom, for writing a story about dogs in space and self-propelled, personal rocket backpacks while in grade school. Of course, spacedog Laika was an early pioneer (and victim) of the Soviet space program; and, shuttle astronauts have been using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) -- nyah, nyah, Tom! -- for years now. But I remain astounded and ashamed that we haven't been back to the moon for more than 30 years, and don't have the technical capacity to return today even if we had the will.

Were the pioneers -- Von Braun, Glenn, Armstrong, Kraft -- that much ahead of their times, or are we that unimaginative today?

What have we been doing for 40 years?!

Why should you care who I am?

I'm 52 years old with 49 years of professional experience! The math is obvious -- either I'm a prodigy, or a master of multi-tasking.

Truth to tell, it may be both. I DO have a genius IQ, and my ACT (back in pre-dumbed-down 1973) composite score was 30, but I also have quarter-century stints in TWO DIFFERENT professions: journalism (full-time and part-time for 25 years) and public education (beginning 25th year this week!). In short, I've been expressing my opinion publicly -- either for publication or impressing young minds -- for a long time. I wrote my first published news story in 1976, the same year I (mistakenly!) voted for Jimmy Carter for president. I taught my first classroom (and their progeny since) in 1985 (by which time I'd whole-heartedly adapted to Ronald Reagan in 1984, after a flirtation with Libertarian Ed Clark in 1980).

So, you see, both my professional life and political views have undergone examination and re-examination, only to wind up becoming pretty stable in my latter years.

My goal, of course (wanting to be a self-respecting blogger) is to earn a link from Glenn Reynolds' InstaPundit. I bet I will -- someday! In the meantime, you're in on the ground floor. Pat yourself on the back. Now, let's go make waves...