Frederick Douglass and the 4th of July

As promised, "something about the warts" of the USA on the 4th of July. In 1852 Frederick Douglass (one of my favorite libertarian heroes!) gave a speech. Below is a version of that speech, read by some of FD's descendants today.

 The great thing about Douglass is that he believed in America, at least in its potential. He believed in ideas, and thought that the values in Declaration of Independence meant just what they said. But he was disappointed, over and over. Even after slavery was ended, Jim Crow and other government policies betrayed Douglass's hopes. The end of slavery did NOT install blacks as full citizens; that took more than another full century.

And if you consider access to government programs, fair treatment in the courts and by the police, and place in society, not even then. That legacy of disparate treatment has prevented access to education and buying a home, the two things that have lifted so many other  citizens out of poverty and sent us (including me) up the stairway to the American dream.

The question is whether we all take the words of the Declaration, signed today nearly 250 years ago, mean anything. I hope they do. I think this is worth listening to. It's less than 8 minutes.

"What To The Slave Is The 4th of July?"

• The text of the speech, and some background on Douglass.
• A great book, by Tim Sandefur. 
• A reading by James Earl Jones. 

Independence Day Rodent Action

Have you ever wondered how an American would act, if he were a small rodent? I think I have the answer.

We noticed some mouse droppings, and our dog-sitter claimed to hear "scritching" sounds (her word, not mine). So I put out some traps, baited with chocolate peanut butter.  Figured that would be irresistible.

Next day...found this (click for an even more Independent image):

Two things are noteworthy.

• First, the trigger is licked completely clean.  This was extremely dense, sticky chocolate peanut butter.  Any jiggling and WHAP.  But no.  Licked it clean. Trap is still set, unsprung.  Balls.
   
• Second, and even more American:  note the two small objects in the left foreground.  Yes, those are what you think they are.  The mouse, after eating all the bait, took a dump on the trap.

And that, dear ones, is the sort of spirit that makes America great.  A happy Independence Day to you!

Down? This will help!

Sometimes, you just have that "Bah! HUMBUG!" feeling, this time of year.  You feel...well, like this:

But wait, there's hope!  These awkward family cards will cheer you right up.  Check it out. You'll be happy and wearing those plastic antlers in no time!

UPDATE:  What do dogs want for Christmas?  Hard to tell, but this might be it. 

Angels We Have Heard on High

This is why Mr. Overwater invented the internet.  So we can watch stuff like this.  (No, there are no cats in the video.  Sorry.)

Best 4th of July song ever!

For Dads: Past, Present, and Future

Happy New Year!

Okay, so THIS is the Parody

Okay, so the original was just awful, not a parody.  Here is the parody.

Will Farrell as DB and John C. Reilly as BC.  That explains the resurgence of the original.

And, to be fair and to placate commenters, the original duet of the SONG was very, very nice.  Beautiful voices.  But the video is just creepy, even more so now that Jeff H informs me that it was not a joke.

Little Drummer Boy from Bing and David

We posted this two years ago.  But since it's Christmas time, and just for the readers of KPC, here is four minutes of your life you will never get back, and will be mad that you watched.  But it's like a train wreck, you. just. can't. look. away.



Bing Crosby and David Bowie sing, "The Little Drummer Boy."  It's a parody, but of what?

Last Minute Christmas Gifts! Christmas 2012 Last Minute Edition

Need some last minute Christmas gifts, for that discerning sort of person who hangs out with KPC readers?  Not just ANY gift, but a cool gift that you can actually get shipped in time for the day, arriving (ojala!) on Monday?

Books on war and strategy

Beauty product samples of the month, each month, $10.

If you know something the person likes, buy an on-line subscription.  They might never pay for the ad-free version of Pandora, for example, but it's cheap and they will actually use it!  And your friend/SO can listen on phone, laptop, or any computer at home.  It's quite handy.

Noodle Of The Month club!  Or some other food subscription.  But good Italian pasta in particular is a nice, easy to use, product that everybody likes!  (Okay, not for Angus, but for people without allergies to gluten)

Membership in an art museum, theater company, etc.  If you live near SOME kind of city, there must be a season subscription or membership you can buy.  And though they may not have bought it for themselves, a good theater subscription will get them out of the house to go see some plays. 

Buy an "experience," from a site like this, or perhaps like this, even more generally.  Unusual, interesting, and you can still get 'er done in time for the day!





 

Holiday Videos!

Deck the Halls with Macro Follies (with thanks to PB)




And...the REAL Santa Claus is the US Government!
 

WKRP Turkey Drop

A remembrance of the WKRP "Turkeys Away" episode.  For T-giving, from KPC!

With thanks to @radleybalko ...

A youtube excerpt, about 13 mins.  A bit jumpy, but a great show.  And you get the punchline at the end:


Apparently some basis in reality, from Yellville, AR.  Also home of the "Miss Drumsticks" Beauty Pageant.

Trick or treat!

Without a doubt, this will be THE costume to be wearing this Halloween:

more here. Hat tip to Mrs. A.

An Italian-American Christmas Greeting

With all proper respect and much love to Jenn Musirolla, who posted this video. I put it up for the enjoyment of KPC friend Shirley, who has lived it.



The menu at the Mungerella House tonight:

Before:
salami, olives
various cheeses
shrimp cocktail
hot peppers
bread

The main event:
calimari in a white wine and garlic sauce
meatballs in homemade sauce (cooked for two days with stew beef and hot sausage and sweet sausage)
melanzane parmigiana
pasta
broccoli in sauce
cauliflower breaded and fried in olive oil
fried fish
bread for boonging

After:
Salad with olive oil and vinegar
More bread

After after:
Cookies
Coffee
Sambuca

Butter Crisis Prompts Desperate Video

"What if it was YOU who didn't have any butter? What if I took your butter away from you?"

TOMMY! Listen. YOUR. GOVERNMENT. is doing this to you, sweetie. There is no butter shortage. It is the state who is f***ing you. You are hilarious because the shortage is entirely a product of your protectionist trade policies. If you needed actual help, we'd be there for you. But if we tried to ship in emergency supplies of butter, we would be ARRESTED. Just like those Swedish butter thugs...

(If you have missed the story, check out our man Angus, with his finger on the private parts of Norway and the butter crisis.)

Grandma Got Indefinitely Detained Now

They took her rights in order to protect her rights....
The most genius plan ever in history!

Norman Rockwell and Independence Day 2011

We have two sons. They are both alive and well. A lot of people have lost sons, or daughters, whom they will mourn today, and every day for the rest of their lives. Because our troops are fighting three wars, and doing a lot of other things they were asked to do.

The picture below captures, with a Norman Rockwell-like clarity of composition, a little of how most of us feel about the fallen. The casket contains the remains of 2nd Lt. James Cathey. The honor guard covered the casket with a flag, and prepared to meet the family on the tarmac. The passengers watched, letting Lt. Cathey get off the plane first. (Todd Heisler, photographer)

The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. 'I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it,' she said. 'I think that's what he would have wanted'. (Todd Heisler, again)

(The pix are from 2006, but for some reason have been circulating as an email in the last weeks...Besides, for the family that's only five years. It is never going to be long enough ago. Thanks to AB for sending this to me).

Is Sex Work? A Memorial Day Post

This gone 'round the interwebs three or four times, so you may have seen it. But I laughed...A bit of military humor, on Memorial Day.

Is Sex Work?

A U.S. Marine Colonel was about to start the morning briefing to his staff. While waiting for the coffee machine to finish its brewing - the colonel decided to pose a question to all assembled.

He explained that his wife had been a bit frisky the night before and he failed to get his usual amount of sound sleep. He posed the question of just how much of sex was "work" and how much of it was "pleasure?" A Major chimed in with 75-25% in favor of work. A Captain said it was 50-50%. A lieutenant responded with 25-75% in favor of pleasure, depending upon his state of inebriation at the time. There being no consensus, the colonel turned to the PFC who was in charge of making the coffee. What was HIS opinion?

Without any hesitation, the young PFC responded, "Sir, it has to be 100% pleasure." The colonel was surprised and, as you might guess, asked why.

"Well, sir, if there was any work involved, the officers would have me doing it for them." The room fell silent.

God Bless the enlisted man.

And God Bless all our men and women in uniform, around the world, and since the beginning. For my own part, a remembrance of Captain Herbert Munger, 100th Infantry Division. On a morning in November, 1944 he was riding in the lead six-wheel drive armored car racing northeast after retreating German forces. The company hit a roadblock ambush, with machine guns and sighted in mortars. The second car was disabled. (Then) Lt. Munger got out of his (undamaged) car, got the wounded out of the disabled car, got the platoon turned around, and escaped the trap without loss of life. And so, sometimes, God Bless the offers.

He got a Bronze Star. I ended up with a father.

Happy Mother's Day

This is a very sweet video.

The ending actually made me cry a little bit. But then our house is an "empty nest," or at least it will be as soon as the YYM packs up for Myrtle Beach. He just finished his freshman year at Duke. And the EYM lives in Chapel Hill. (That last bird in the nest has the EYM's hair style, exactly. The tufts: EYM all the way.)

Still, happy Mother's Day, to the LMM and to all the mothers out there!

Easter

I have my new Easter bonnet, too. Pretty? The LMM is that tiny little thing amidst all that manliness.