Just Answer the Letter, Joe.

I sent an e-mail letter to my Congerscritter Joe Schwarz, expressing my strong opposition to Senate's version of the "Comprehensive" Immigration Reform Act (advocating that he oppose many of its provisions when it comes to conference). So far, silence. But we did recieve a slick Schwarz for Congress flyer from his reelection committee, reminding us that Fightin' Joe is gonna get tough on the borders. We were not impressed.

In Bob We Trust.

As a conservative, I cherish traditions and institutions that keep our collective culture strong and bind us together as a people. Like Pizza Bob's. Tonight my son and I found ourselves 'round suppertime at the corner of State & Packard in Ann Arbor. There was only one course of action to satiate our hunger pangs. We walked into the store and images of Bob's stout face greeted us from a dozen framed tee-shirts ringing the walls. On the timescale of campus establishments, Bob's is as old as the Sequoias, going back to 1972 (and Bob worked in the original store before that time). The United States was born in Philadelphia, but the Chipati was born in Bob's. I think that the original Chipati is now in a hermetically sealed, blast-proof case right next to the Declaration of Independence. Paul Revere's ride has been immortalized in prose. And there is Pizza Bob Haiku.

To paraphrase James Earl Jones' character in Field of Dreams, buildings and men have come and gone, the face of country has been wiped clean like a slate. But Pizza Bob's has marked the time.

Remembering the Merchant Marine.


In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the 1930s, the man my father looked for guidance in life while he was growing up was his uncle and my namesake, Martin Postii. Martin spent a few teenage years lumbering and mining, but at seventeen left the western Upper Peninsula to attend the Merchant Marine Academy. He spent his twenties and early thirties sailing on the boats of the Great Lakes. In the mid 1930s he finally joined the seagoing fleet, sailing with ships of the Sun Oil Co. from Venezuela to the eastern seaboard of the United States. My father looked forward to his uncle's letters, telling of his adventures on the sea and in the exotic ports of South America. He would also include some of his pay to help my father's mother and grandfather maintain their modest farm in depression-sticken upper Michigan. With the spread of war in Europe, Martin sailed from India to Murmansk as an ABS (Able Bodied Seaman) aboard the SS East Indian, owned by the Ford Motor Company.

In the fall of 1942, Martin set sail on what was to be his last voyage. After making port in India and South Africa, the East Indian made steam for Gilbraltar. On November 5, 1942, only three hundred miles west of Capetown, the East Indian was torpedoed and sunk by U-181, commanded by Kapitaenleutnant Wolfgang Lueth. A single torpedo hit was enough to sink the East Indian in a matter of minutes. One of the survivors wrote of seeing my great uncle, the "Finn from Upper Michigan", become tangled in the shrouds of the mainmast and pulled under with the sinking of the ship. Martin was one of twenty-three men who did not initially survive the sinking. Lueth surfaced the U-181, and hailed the fifty-one survivors, while some of the German crew filmed the events. He had regretted sinking such a fine ship, Lueth remarked and asked if her surviving crew needed provisions. His offer of help was refused. After directing them toward Capetown, Lueth wished the crew of the East Indian luck, and ordered the U-181 submerged and sailed off in search of more prey. Ultimately only three crewmembers of the East Indian survived to sail again.In the last several years our country has expressed its gratitude to the soldiers of World War II, as "The Greatest Generation" passes into memory. Nor should we forget the service and sacrifice of the brave men of the United States Merchant Marine.

Response from Spirit Air.

Here is the text of the reply that I received from Spirit Airlines in the matter of PFC Sparling; I've omitted greetings and signature. We report, you decide:

Thank you for taking the time to contact Spirit Airlines regarding PFC Joshua Sparling. There are 2 sides to every story and the situation was described quite differently by a number of other people present that day. Regardless, please rest assured that we have the utmost respect and admiration for PFC Sparling. When he arrived too late for our flight, we could not accommodate him due to security regulations. We offered to accommodate him on our next available flight which he and his family refused. We are of course glad that one of our fellow airlines in our concourse was able to accommodate him on their next flight.

We apologize for any confusion about this situation and the perception that we did not want to carry PFC Sparling on our flight. To the contrary, it would have been our honor to serve PFC Sparling, but given how late he arrived at the airport, regulations prevented us from doing so.

Spitting on Heroes.

Read the account of what happened to PFC Joshua Sparling, I did and I wrote the following letter to Spirit Airlines.


To Whom it May Concern,

I have just read an article about the disgusting manner in which Spirit Airline personnel treated PFC Joshua Sparling, who was seriously wounded in Iraq. This story is documented at the following website:

http://gunnnutt.blogspot.com/2006/05/day-in-life-of-hero.html

For my business I travel frequently, and have used Spirit Airlines. I will be directing my administrative staff to book me on airlines other than Spirit. I would encourage your company apologize to PFC Sparling and you post your apology on your website, such an apology would do a great deal to restore my confidence in Spirit Airlines.

Thank You, Lima Company.

If you're looking to escape the stench of lies perpetrated by Mr. Jesse Macbeth (not worth a link), you can learn of the awe-inspiring heroism of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines. Then get out to your Memorial Day parade to say thank you to soldiers past and present. And then get out your checkbook and give to a military family support organization, or a rehab hospital, or the USO. There isn't any excuse for not helping if you have the means, so do it.

By the way, Lima Company is very proud of their accomplishments in Iraq. Those who would deride those accomplishments - namely, trying to help the Iraqi people build a nation where they can raise their kids in peace and freedom - don't "support the troops". These guys know liars when they see them.

He was the Best Dog.

Dante 1992-2006

Speaking Truth to Brats.

Senator John McCain spoke at the New School ("...A University") to a gaggle of its 2006 graduates of whom one can only describe as rude, arrogant, self-absorbed, and pretentious juveniles. NPR provides a slightly spun version of events here. Ten years from now they will probably all be working at the WJ Clinton Center for Not-Stoppin' Thinkin' About Tomorrow.

Nightfall over the Netherlands.

Michelle Malkin has a superb video article on Hot Air about the struggle of Islamic women against repression committed against them in the name of Allah. Among those featured are Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Wafa Sultan, and Oriana Fallaci. Also chilling are the comments of someone with strong ties to the Netherlands who note that the Dutch now understand the lethal scope of the crisis, and that Jews are leaving Holland because of intimidation. This is how tyranny begins.

Louis Rukeyser, RIP.

The founding father of television financial news, Lou succumbed to multiple myeloma this week. He will be sorely missed, a man of scintillating intellect, dry wit, and panache' that mesmerized one about markets, finance, and the economy. CNBC is doing a wonderful rememberance on him, hosted by one of his TV progeny, Maria Bartaromo.

PBS was literally put on the map by Lou. And they're hardly remembering him.

Energy Arithmetic I.

The US uses 140 billion gallons of gasoline per year. If 10% of this amount is displaced by ethanol, our yearly ethanol production would need to be at least 14 billion gallons per year. Our present ethanol production capacity is about 3.5 billion gallons per year! From an earlier discussion, an E85 fuel would require 8.5 times this production. Is large-scale ethanol replacement of gasoline possible?

Lou Dobbs finds the ANSWER.

CNN's Lou Dobbs has been out front on the illegal alien issue for years, and now he appears to be the lone voice among the Mainstream Meatpackers to recognize the tentacles of the neo-Stalinist group ANSWER grabbing control of the protests supporting amnesty for illegal aliens.

No Cheap Answers?

The Instapundit cited a Popular Mechanics article about alternative fuels, and here is the breakdown in monetary and energy costs for a car to drive coast to coast on these fuels.
Note that the energy content of each of these fuels varies as well, contributing to total costs:

1. Gasoline: 91 gallons required, 4.5 barrels of crude oil required, $270 in fuel
2. 85% Ethanol + 15% Gasoline: 176 gallons, one-half barrel of oil + 53 bushels of corn, $425
3. 85% Methanol + 15 Gasoline: 214 gallons, one-half barrel of oil + 18Kcf of natural gas, $619
4. B100 Biodiesel: 68 gallons, 80 gallons of vegetable oil, $231 (B5 is routinely used)
5. Compressed Natural Gas: 88 effective gasoline gallons, 11Kcf of natural gas, $110
6. Electricity: 16 effective gasoline gallons, 1 ton of coal, $60
7. Hydrogen: 73 effective gasoline gallons, 16Kcf of Hydrogen, $800

Using this data alone, it appears ethanol is not the wonder fuel that some are hyping, while biodiesel and electricity look promising. Licensing more nuclear power plants may help offset the growing costs of electricity generation from coal. We at Deadrifts have lived downwind from a food processing plant with fumes of burning vegetable oil, and the smell makes one yearn for a whiff from the exhaust of a '67 GTO.

The Mayday Shakedown.

It was a masterful exhibition of controlling the vocabulary of a debate, as the Hard Left perverted the issue of illegal foreign workers into an imaginary attack on legal immigrants. The ANSWER Bolsheviks joined in "solidarity" with "immigrants rights" groups - and we wonder what these groups thought was their common cause with ANSWER's notorious anti-American, anti-Israeli, and anti-captialist agitations?

(image courtesy Flyfishing Gear Info)

Opening Day Diary, 2006.

Last Saturday's trout opener in Grayling featured clear skies, fresh breezes, moderate air and water temperatures, plenty of Black Caddis and Hendricksons, but surprisingly few fish. I was skunked (Ye Gods!) on Saturday on the Manistee, but on Sunday the North Branch of the Ausable River yielded plenty of small feisty brookies (by swinging a Pheasant Tail). Later in the day a fine 11" brown snapped up a Hendrickson dry on the Holy Water. A fine opener, with great fishing, beautiful scenery, and convivial companionship.

Cramer rates Couric a Sell.

Tim Russert was looking for supportive righteous indignation when he asked Jim Cramer about the obscene, criminal, rapacious, and predatory gasoline pricing by ExxonMobil. But Cramer didn't take the bait:

MR. RUSSERT: ...and do you believe the oil companies have been adding on a little bit extra profit?

MR. CRAMER: I, I think if they could drill they would drill. If they could refine more, they would. These are companies that are run for the shareholders, but they’re run to be able to produce as much oil as we can possibly use. They want to do that. Lee Raymond, he, he generated $67 billion in profits for his shareholders. I think that that’s a reasonable return, $144,000 a day. Katie Couric makes $85,000 a day. What value has she created vs. 67 billion by Lee Raymond?

MR. RUSSERT: Well, to the “Today” show and to the millions of viewers?

Let's analyze Tim's last question: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!

Evil By Any Other Name Reeks the Same.

About 75 Nazis crawled out from their rocks for a hate-fete' at the state capitol, and there's been a big stink about it. As there should be (remember Woody Allen's reaction to using sarcasm against Nazis?). Then there are these guys (as reported by LGF) , that for some strange reason the Mainstream Meatpackers just can't get as worked up about.

Another Oil-Financed Turnaround.

Brazil has announced its energy independence, and is rakin' in the dough, courtesy of petroleum. Better than any handout from the World Bank or the IMF.


Rush as Press Secretary?

Scrappleface has the story!

Chasin' that Demon in the Thin Air.

Scott Crossfield, test pilot extraordinare and one of the fastest men alive, has died in the crash of the plane he was flying.


Leviathan's Tenacles on Free Speech.

George Will observes that the McCain-Feingold Law is expanding its reach in supressing free political speech.


Ethanol's Unintended Consequences.

Ethanol is being touted as the snake-oil to cure our petroleum ills, but of course it isn't mentioned that (i) it costs a good deal of oil energy to produce and distribute it, (ii) the logistics of blending it with gasoline are a real headache, causing supply disruptions, and increased prices. This NYT article explains some of these problems.


Forty Cents on the Dollar.

Nigeria is paying off its $30 billion debt - well $12 billion of it. But, as Jim Cramer would say, it's better than a sharp stick in the eye. And it's made possible by petroleum revenues, with the help of Big Oil.


Hillary's Tax Visions.

Remember Hillary's "get used to higher taxes" speech in SF a few years back? Larry Kudlow reports that she's at it again.

We Apologize That You're Totalitarians.

Red China's President Hu Jintao, after his gala reception at the Republic of Microsoft, got around to visiting the regional leaders of North America, like George W. Bush. During Hu's completely pointless remarks on the White House lawn, a dissident pleaded with W to encourage his Excellency to stop persecuting his fellow citizens. W later apologized to Hu for the shocking lack of decorum and politeness the heckler demonstrated toward the leader of the world's preeminent totalitarian nation, and expressed his hope that this incident would not spoil Red China's appetite for US Government Bonds and T-Bills.


Prepare to Board the Ether, Mateys!

The FCC has asked Johnny Danger to cease operations of his popular pirate radio station based in Depot Town, Ypsilanti. What a shame - Johnny gave the locals 100 flea-bitten watts of pure listening pleasure. You know, radio that people really liked:

"It was the best thing that ever happened to Depot Town. ... Everybody loved it,'' said Linda French, owner of Sidetrack restaurant. "Part of the fun was trying to figure out where it was being broadcast from. It wasn't like they were interfering with anybody.''

...Depot Town Radio played a wide variety of music, from country and standards to Motown and patriotic songs. It also included coverage of Depot Town-specific events...

(Excerpt from AA News article linked above)

Imagine that: a public-oriented radio station serving the local community. Without a several million dollar budget, nor with station personnel indicted for embezzlment and kickbacks.

Please, FCC, bring back low-power community radio.

Aye, Jim, I spy a safe anchor for Johnny!